


Juno Steel and the Twilight AU Absolutely No One Asked For

by rexlover180



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, I have literally no explanation for this, I wish I could say it was quarantine getting me like this, Other, but I've been working on this for months, for both source materials, it's basically just twilight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 91,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23795197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexlover180/pseuds/rexlover180
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin. This started out as a joke and then I watched all the movies and then I read the first book and then I read the genderbent book and it was too late for me.Peter Nureyev is trying to escape a past he'd rather not think about, and his best route has taken him to Forks, Washington, under the foster care of Omar Khan. He hopes to disappear as soon as possible, run far away from Arizona and his past, but that plan involves a lot of laying in wait in a quaint small town that is all at once too boring, too small, and much, much too close knit. That is, until he comes across one Juno Steel, and all of his plans are turned upside down.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 83
Kudos: 76





	1. First Sight

**Author's Note:**

> NOW FEATURING an edit my friend, Taylor put together for chapter one! Find her on Tumblr @majyyxx!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now bear with me. I know we all agree that Peter's the one with the vampire energy, but I need you to consider the fact that Peter is the least Edward-ly type person you could ever think of. And like, there's a whole other AU that can be written with Peter as Edward that changes the entire dynamics of Twilight, but we're going for a simple rewrite here. Juno is a perfect Edward, minus a few stalker tendencies, and Peter is a passable Bella, and that's all I could ever ask for.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I've got more goodies in the notes at the end.

**First Sight**

Peter had never given much thought into how he would die, but he had an idea it was absolutely under no circumstances in the place of someone he loved. In fact, just the idea of it pissed him off to no end. The visual of someone he might even love, for example, trapped on the other side of the door in a bunker or something dying so that no one else had to. Man, what a stupid idea. 

Anyway, that had absolutely no relation to the reason why Peter Nureyev was moving to Forks, Washington. He was moving for a list of complicated reasons that were summed up by the death of an already adoptive father that put him back into the Phoenix foster care system and a surprisingly long list of friends that communicated to each other about a teenager that really needed a change of pace...and that list somehow ended in Washington. Honestly, Peter knew next to nothing about this Omar Khan or his family or his town, but when someone offered Peter a chance to get the hell out of the place that reminded him only of Mag, he took it. Police chief or otherwise.

What Peter did know was that Omar and his wife, Noor, had just a gaggle of kids, both biological and adopted. He wouldn’t be the strangest to join the ranks, though certainly the oldest. Their kids ran the gamut of newborn to about 10. Peter seemed like a strange addition at 17, but he wasn’t one to reject the offer. Forks, Washington was small, remote, and far, far away from reminders of Mag. There would be clouds instead of sun, rain instead of blue skies, cold instead of heat...Peter didn’t like the idea of it but honestly getting away from all those reminders would be nice. An entirely new life didn’t just pop up, especially not for someone like him shoved into the foster system. Peter’s only other option was to break out and get onto the streets and figure out some other way to get far away.

At least this way his travel expenses were paid to get to a completely different state. He could run away on his own after the eyes of social workers were off him and maybe he got a job or something up in Seattle. Graduate whatever high school they were going to shove him into and then go off on his own. He’d been homeschooled his whole time with Mag, if that’s what you wanted to call it, but maybe blending into a high school with a couple hundred kids might be good. Blending sounded...great. A huge relief.

That’s certainly what he thought as he waited by the baggage claim at the airport, hood up and arms crossed over his chest. Just an anonymous face in the crowd, another kid getting off a plane and getting on with their life. He didn’t have any bags. Just the clothes he had on his back and whatever he managed to get into his pockets and past security. Which, surprisingly, included most of his knives. He considered running for it right there, but knew he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a manhunt for him so he stayed put.

He heard Omar Khan before he saw him. Peter had only gotten a few email conversations with him before the whole deal went down, but the people at the agency _assured_ Peter it would be a good match, that Khan was a good person that would take good care of him. And hearing him in that airport, Peter could almost believe all that bullshit.

“Like I said before, I’ll tell ya when I find the kid.” He was on the phone. A massive hulk of a man, the bushiest mustache Peter had ever seen, and very kind eyes. Plus, he had a voice that sounded like he was constantly using a megaphone even at regular volume, rough and prickly but not that bad to listen to. He sounded exactly like the way he wrote emails.

“No, I...I don’t think he’s got a phone, but I got a photo of the kid and he can’t be that hard to find.”

Peter smirked. He almost made more of an effort to hide in the crowd. He could do it, too. He considered it previously, sure. He could have just vanished into the crowd and no one would’ve looked at him. That was at least one thing he was good at. But he didn’t, if only to give this poor guy a break. He looked a little tired. It probably had something to do with the three kids underfoot. He must have thought introducing them to Peter a little at a time was for the best.. Peter flicked down his hood.

“I appreciate your support, dear, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it handled. Oh! Uh, I think I found him. I gotta go, hun, see you in a bit.”

Peter saw him put the phone away and the man waved at him. He looked exactly like the picture they’d given Peter, like it had been taken that day just moments before. Peter thought he recognized the kids, too, but he couldn’t be sure. Only so many kids could fit into one photograph, after all.

Peter waved back before stepping forward.

“You, uh, you Peter?” Khan asked. Awkwardly. Like a man that big was afraid of hurting someone as small as Peter. A funny thought, really.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I think this whole change of pace thing deserves a new name. Call me Rex?”

“Oh!, Right, sure, of course, whatever you need to get your distance,” Khan said immediately. He’d been given the whole story. The neat little folder that hid all of Peter’s life that they gave out to complete strangers that might be interested in him. Maybe that was the thing that made someone like Khan want to adopt someone like Peter. Everyone loves a good sob story.

“Rex Glass, then. Please.”

It was a last minute decision, the name. But Peter wanted to vanish completely from a past he didn’t want anymore. And his real name was slapped all over the papers in Phoenix. He couldn’t risk someone recognizing him. He didn’t want the trouble.

“Sure thing! I’ll go ahead and call the school on the way back. You got any bags?”

“No. I travel light. After you?”

“Right! Yes, of course.”

And so out Peter stepped, out of the airport and into Washington, his new home. For now, at least. It was...very green. Yes, he’d seen that through the window on the plane (the first plane ride he’d ever had in his life which was...uncomfortable and only slightly horrifying), but it was another ordeal on the ground. The trees were massive, to say the least, and moss and grass and leaves covered nearly everything he saw. That and the gray of the sky. It was already drizzling.

Khan walked them right up to a police cruiser and Peter swallowed the anxiety that came with the sight. It would take a bit to get used to the shift of running away from the police and coming home to one.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Khan said as he shoved the kids into the car, motioning for Peter to take shotgun, “I’ve taken the liberty of getting you a truck from a family friend. Figured you’d want something cooler than, well…” He motioned to the cruiser and Peter couldn’t help but agree. Nothing slowed down traffic quite like a cop.

“I appreciate it,” Peter said. “You didn’t have to.” He had some savings to his name, after all, and he’d been anticipating buying his own car. Small towns were small, yes, but they were all surprisingly spread out from what he heard. A car would be good for him, especially in the long term when it came to making his escape.

“Consider it a welcome house gift,” Khan said, and it sounded like a practiced line. Maybe fed to him by his wife, the real mastermind behind the truck in the first place.

Peter, for the first time in his life, willingly stepped into the police car and they drove off into this new state he’d be getting used to. Khan tried for a little conversation, but there wasn’t much to talk about, at least that Peter was willing to speak about. Then he got distracted by the kids asking him endless questions, as kids generally do. He was embarrassed when they asked personal questions of Peter, but he lied to them easily. Peter couldn’t help but be curious what Khan really did know about him and if he knew Peter was lying to his family, but Khan didn’t say anything contrary to him.

When they arrived at the house, Peter was pleasantly surprised. It at least looked like it could fit as large of a family as the Khans had, and beside the minivan Peter assumed they used to cart around their family, Peter saw an old, green truck on the driveway. Peter was genuinely surprised when he found that he actually liked it. Yes, it was easily thirty or forty years old, but that was part of the charm. It was certainly the kind of car that could walk away from an accident without so much as a scratch.

More kids raced out of the house to greet him, each with a practiced “Welcome to the family” on their lips and rehearsed smiles. Noor came out shortly after with two babies on her arms and a toddler on her leg that wouldn’t let her go. It took easily half an hour to get through all the introductions, which Peter didn’t mind. It was relaxing almost, to fall into the role of Rex Glass, which the family took up quickly, thankfully. The inside of the house was charming, in the way that you expect every small town house to look. Yellow painted cabinets to chase away the outside gloom, a well-worn recliner for Omar, and plenty of children’s art, on the fridge, taped to the walls, and drawn onto the walls themselves.

After all the introductions were done and Peter had tucked all the names into his brain to hopefully memorize later, Khan led him upstairs to the bedrooms. Peter had fully expected to share a room with any number of the kids, but Khan opened the door into a plain room with only one bed and a desk tucked into the corner.

Peter made sure to thank him for all of his trouble, and Khan seemed to be more than willing to give him some space. Some of the words coming out of his mouth sounded straight out of a parenting book for teens, and Peter had no doubt he’d read at least one of those cover-to-cover before Peter got here. Probably had another one on his nightstand.

And when Peter was alone, he was free to marvel. He’d never had a room of his own before. Ever. Before Mag, it was the streets or what homes could keep him for more than a week at a time and even then he shared with a few other kids. With Mag it was either the streets or hotel rooms they could swindle, but they always got a room together. Here, with that door closed, Peter was able to take in a space that was one hundred percent his own for the first time in his life.

It was barren; white walls and a plush carpeting beneath his feet. There was a cute little window seat that faced over the front yard, where Peter could see some kids running around before the sun fell over the horizon and the cars waiting to be started. The bed was a simple twin bed with a nondescript comforter laid over it, and on the desk lay a computer and phone. Peter chuckled, running his fingers over the keyboard. He’d only ever used one of these to cook up aliases, and never had he had one of his own. It was awfully nice of the Khans to go this far for him.

He sighed as he looked around the room. He could already feel a pang of guilt for what his plans were. Still, he knew he couldn’t stay here for too long. He knew the plan. Wait until child services isn’t looking at him anymore, and then disappear. Like he always did.

* * *

First day of school and Peter hoped he would do well. He gave the Khans a lot of credit. Noor Khan was absolutely lovely and gave him the largest home cooked meal he’d ever had the night before. The only one, really. He was given the place of honor at the head of the impossibly large dinner table that somehow managed to fit the entire family. Come morning, Omar was already gone to the police station to do his job and Noor was collecting all the children into the minivan for school on their own. It was just assumed that Peter would know to go to school on his own. Not that he was protesting. He offered Noor a smile when she waved at him through the kitchen window as he got his own breakfast.

The truck itself was dry and warm, very unlike the outside world. Peter was already starting to miss the Arizona weather, but he didn’t let himself linger on that thought for very long. It started without much of a problem, roaring to life at maximum volume, but the heater worked and so did the radio. A nice surprise as it flicked on to a country station. Even though the cab had been cleaned before Peter got to it, he could still smell the lingering of whatever person owned it before, and all the radio presets were unchanged.

Thankfully, Peter did know how to drive. He’d stolen enough cars to know how and Mag always preferred not to drive, so he was on his way in no time. Forks High School was, like most things, just off the highway. The town wasn’t so small that you could see all of it in one glance, but perhaps two glances. And the school itself surprised Peter more than anything. It was more a scattering of buildings than it was a school, nothing like what he’d seen around Phoenix, but the buildings were all numbered, and there was a sign in front of the main office.

Most of the other cars in the lot were about on par with what Peter had, the nicest being a neat little Volvo tucked into a spot near the front. Still, Peter pulled up the hood on his jacket, knowing exactly what kind of welcome he was about to get in this town, and not wanting it quite so early in the morning.

The population of Forks High School was around 400 students. These kids all grew up together, their parents grew up together. A single new person to disrupt the mix was bound to stir up the pot and he would be the center of everyone’s attention for quite some time. He wasn’t too comfortable with that, but that just meant Rex Glass had to be boring and unremarkable and soon they would all look away from him. He would have to deal with the rumor mill for a while and whatever their Chief of Police let slip before he got there, but soon he could slip through the cracks and it would be like nothing had changed at all.

Peter was good at disappearances, after all…

He stepped into the warm office building, pleasantly surprised by the warmth, and waited at the counter. Apparently, Khan had acted quick with his name because they responded to Rex Glass without batting an eye and gave him his schedule and a map of the school. Peter read through it a few times before stepping back out of the building, memorizing it so he wouldn’t have to rely on it too much. His first class was in building three, it seemed.

He’d only taken a few steps outside of the building when he noticed that his disappearing act would be harder than he thought. Two twins, both perched against the main office’s outside wall shared smirks the second they caught sight of him and advanced on him. Peter didn’t fight it when they looped their arms with his and dragged him along on whatever venture they wanted. There was still time to get to class, after all.

“Well, would you look at that, the rumors really are true,” the one with the acid wash hair said, the girl.

“I think he’ll make for a perfect first page spread, what do you think?” the other one said with a bright smile.

“A little school like this has a newspaper?” Peter asked, genuinely curious. Sure, he’d heard about what public school was like, but it was one thing to read about it and another to actually experience it. And being plastered on the front page of a school newspaper, as small as it was, didn’t make him feel all that great. But he was sure he could play this off.

“If my intel is correct, and it always is,” the girl said, “your name is Rex Glass, right?”

“The one and only,” Peter said, thoroughly impressed that the news of his name was already out. “I’m sorry, how did you get this intel?”

“She likes to make a habit of raiding the main office,” the boy said. “Oh, pardon our manners! We forgot to introduce ourselves! My name is Cecil Kanagawa, always at your service.”

They were already walking through the crowd of students who were either catching up with friends in the drizzle or ducking to their classes, but everyone they passed turned to look at Peter. He didn’t like all the attention, honestly.

“Cassandra, but you can call me Cass,” the girl said. “And it’s not a habit, moron. I only do it when it’s important.”

“Like to invade a stranger’s privacy?” Peter asked, though he couldn’t help but smile just a little bit.

“Exactly,” they said at the same time. And just like that, the sound of a bell rang from the speakers connected to each of the buildings and like clockwork all the students around them turned to their respective buildings.

“Oh, boo,” Cecil murmured. “I guess we’ll have to revisit during lunch, then, Rex. Unless we have a class together. I look forward to getting to know you.” The way Cecil winked at him and raked his eyes up and down Peter didn’t leave him wondering what he meant, but Peter only nodded as the two darted off to their class, muttering something about not being able to afford being late. Peter only caught the name Min in their conversation before he started off to his own first class.

High school was...not as Peter expected. He’d heard what it was like from Mag, who dropped out and had no good things to say about it. And he’d watched various movies and shows when he had the chance, which either painted an amazing picture with song and dance or the worst image of bullies possible. Never an in-between. And in-between is exactly what Peter experienced.

Mag had a habit of ‘teaching on the go’ with so many ‘lesson ones of thieving’ that Peter lost track of how many he actually got. All of which is to say that Peter learned everything he knew on the streets through thieving and lying. Whatever knowledge he picked up that was typically learned in schools was purely an accident based on coming up with a persona to dupe someone into giving him what they had. So almost all of the classes were just plain strange to him and he had a lot of catch-up to do. That being said, they were simple enough in theory, the teachers were nice, and all the kids in his classes were either nice or didn’t pay any attention to him. High school turned out to be a lot of mediums, not anything to be excited about.

Peter had taken all of their pre-tests they sent to him, and apparently he did well enough to stay in mostly Junior level classes, but nothing too impressive. And if the teachers had known anything about his legal name, none of them said anything as they introduced him as the new student, Rex Glass, every new period. And his plan on blending it worked almost immediately. Sure, he got a few interested stares on the way to his seat, but after that he just sat down, answered when called on, and it was like nothing had changed in the world around him.

After each class, someone would try to be helpful, introduce themselves, ask how Peter liked Forks, and offer to walk him to his next class. It was still more attention than he wanted, but he could handle the first day, or week as it seemed, it would be before everyone calmed down. He could handle this.

The only one that managed to leave a lasting impression was after English, just before lunch. That being said, most of the impression came from the sheer lack of clothes the man had on, apparently damning the brisk weather outside in favor of...fashion? Could it be called that?

“You must be the infamous Rex Glass I’ve heard everyone talking about,” the stranger said, immediately looping an arm around Peter’s waist and guiding him out the door. Peter smirked and allowed it for now, but he did palm the knife he had hiding in his pocket just in case his hands went somewhere else.

“That would be me, yes, and I don’t believe I have the pleasure of knowing your name,” Peter said.

“Julian DiMaggio, darling, most likely to be this year’s Prom King and Queen. I hope you don’t mind the spotlight for now, I fully intend on taking it back by the end of the school day. You must be starving, you poor thing, allow me to lead you to the cafeteria.”

Forks was quite an interesting place, indeed, Peter mused to himself. Julian certainly didn’t hide any of his flirtations from Peter, who passively allowed it for now, hoping his lack of interest would drive Julian away. Though it was quickly becoming apparent that Julian thought himself so personally beautiful that he didn’t believe anyone wasn’t interested in him. And as soon as they entered the cafeteria, Peter found that Julian was already friends with the Kanagawas, who shepherded him to a table before he even had a chance to grab food. Considering their theatrics, Peter expected to be the center of attention, but it seemed everyone in the small town was used to their antics. They were loud, yes, and invasive, certainly, but they were mostly harmless. At least Peter hoped they were. 

Soon, the Kanagawas were enthralled in an argument about the next newspaper headline and Julian was reapplying his makeup and nearly making out with the mirror so Peter had a little time to himself to think. And that was when he noticed... _them_.

It was a group of people all so similar and yet different, so familiar and yet unfamiliar all at the same time that Peter was left a little awestruck as he took them in. There were five of them, and though they were distinct, they all managed to share a few traits; they were all so flawlessly stunning it was both hard to look at them and impossible to look away, and they all had the same dark eyes so sunken in it looked like none of them got any sleep or they were all recovering from broken noses. Yet none of them had a single blemish, scar, or hair out of place.

First, there was a woman with just the smallest feet Peter had ever seen and the brightest smile, though it was only directed at the people she was with, but she sported the fanciest hair, makeup and dress out of the whole group. Currently, she was talking the ear off of a boy with another bright smile, who would nod in fervent agreement, talking with his hands about what seemed like the grandest ideas and Peter wanted more than anything to just listen to them talk. Then there were the more serious of the group. One girl was incredibly muscular, her braids long and elegant, though tied away to keep from getting in her way and another was more slender with sharp eyes like a predator on the hunt.

And then there was the last one, separated from the rest with his head down and his shoulders drawn in. The lady in question was short and fit with a rugged quality to his already perfect looks. He looked sour, depressed, but far more perfect than anyone Peter had ever seen. It was almost annoying how perfect he looked, and yet Peter couldn’t bear to look away. And then his eyes flicked up, meeting Peter’s in a shocking, searing contact. At first, the stranger was surprised and seemed about to look away, but something stopped him. He furrowed his brow and seemed to almost glare at Peter before Peter darted his gaze away.

“Who are they?” Peter asked curiously, not caring what conversation he interrupted between the twins.

“Oh, them?” Cassandra asked flippantly, almost angrily. “Those are the Aurinkos.” When Peter glanced back up, the boy was still staring at him and he couldn’t help but look away, his stomach doing flips he hadn’t thought it could do. No one he’d ever seen had affected him this way before...

“Yeah, they’re all the adopted kids of these two lesbians that apparently only adopt crazy attractive kids. Pretty sure they think they’re better than everyone else.” Cecil sounded personally offended as he spoke, maybe because he thought he was better than them and also maybe from personal experience with the Aurinkos. “The peppy one, that’s Rita. She’s probably the best of them, let’s be honest. When she does grace us with her presence, she’s the nicest of them all. Next to her, that’s Mick. Bit of a dunce, but we love him for it.”

“The one that looks like she could flex your head into exploding is Alessandra,” Cassandra offered. “And then the one that looks like she could kill you a million ways to Sunday is Sasha.”

“And the last one?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, trust me, everyone’s been there with him,” Julian scoffed and Peter had to wonder how many times Julian had been turned down by him.

“Speak for yourself, doofus,” Cassandra scoffed.

“That’s Juno,” Cecil said, ignoring his sister. “And before you ask or try, no he doesn’t talk to _anyone_. And yes, he is always that brooding and mysterious.”

“All that being said,” Cassandra said, “no one talks to them. And they don’t talk to anyone. We can stare all we want from a distance, _Cecil_ , but it’s not gonna get us anywhere. So don’t bother.”

“Noted,” Peter mused, allowing one more lingering glance at the group before turning to these new ‘friends’ of his.

It turned out Julian also had Biology with Peter, so he helpfully led the way to class while Peter followed. Peter absently handed the teacher his paper he was meant to give each teacher before the day was up, uncaring about the room around him. Honestly, to Peter, Biology was up there with Trigonometry in the list of things he never _planned_ on using, but might eventually use for a persona or something, so he didn’t really plan on paying all that much attention to it.

But then the teacher motioned for him to take the only empty seat in the room. The seat that just happened to be next to Juno Aurinko. Peter honestly allowed himself to get a little excited at the idea of sitting next to him. He had a suspicion even thinking about pursuing him would be the worst idea (in terms of going after someone who wouldn’t even look twice at him and in terms of trying to stay as low as possible) but just sitting next to him in a class wasn’t the worst idea in the world. He was only human, after all.

And then a fan hit Peter and...his _smell_ hit Juno? Peter wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but it took only a few seconds for him to lock eyes with Juno and the lady immediately looked completely disgusted and covered his nose in the least stealthy way possible, darting his eyes away.

Peter blinked, taken aback. He’d never witnessed something so blatantly rude in his life. Not to mention he felt a little self-conscious. He fought the overwhelming urge to check his own scent and inwardly cringed as the teacher sentenced him to his seat right next to Juno.

And the second Peter sat down, Juno shuffled as close as he could to the window and turned his head away, stiff and uncomfortable. Peter propped his head in his hand, staring ahead as he considered his next course of action, definitely not taking in the lesson. Should he say something petty? Should he just up and leave? That seemed a bit dramatic. Should he just sit here and do nothing? Say nothing? Something like this had never happened to Peter. He wasn’t vain or anything, but most of the time people really did find him attractive. He’d certainly never been met with disgust before.

Peter allowed himself to get lost in thought. And the second the bell rang, Juno bolted out of the room. He ran so fast it was nearly superhuman. Peter just scoffed, picked up his book bag, and headed to his next class. He shook his head and couldn’t help but imagine his next confrontation with Juno in class. Would he allow himself to be angry if Juno pulled something like this again? Peter wasn’t sure, but nearly all of his attraction for him was out the window now.

Peter’s last class of the day was...Physical Education. He’d heard stories about it, of course, and he was honestly disappointed that it was required for his entire time here in Forks. The coach in charge of the class had pulled out a uniform for him, an unflattering gray T-shirt and shorts that Peter wasn’t looking forward to wearing, but thankfully Peter wasn’t expected to change until tomorrow. He couldn’t help but wonder, sitting on the bleachers as he watched four simultaneous games of volleyball, how much attention it would draw to him if he skipped just this one class.

Thankfully, that torture only lasted an hour before he was let loose and he ducked into the main office once again to return the sheet of paper. He was a little shocked to enter and see Juno himself at the counter in a hushed, almost angry conversation with the clerk. Peter only caught the tail end of it, but he got the gist of it. Juno was demanding to get his Biology to be switched. To any other period.

Peter allowed rage to flare up in him once again. So sitting next to Peter was that bad, was it? He had half a mind to walk up to Juno right then and have some kind of talking-to with him, but it seemed Juno had finally sensed him in the room and turned to stare at him with wide eyes, which quickly turned into an icy glare.

“Nevermind, I can see that this is impossible,” Juno grumbled before roughly pushing past Peter and out into the rain. Peter allowed himself to scoff out loud, now actually offended at Juno’s behavior. He barely even spared the clerk a glance as he dropped off his paper and headed out to his car. He needed a breather before he did anything else that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have big plans for this AU that weren't originally intended but came out anyway, so here we are. Originally Khan was just here for the sheer similarities he shares with Charlie, but I've grown very attached to him as well. I blame the writing of this story for making me enjoy a strained, but entertaining relationship between Peter Nureyev and Omar Khan.
> 
> As for this AU in general, I have MOST of the chapters written out, I've been working on this bad boy for months but figured now was the time to upload this, since we all could use a pick-me-up in these trying times. With so many chapters already written that means I'll be uploading once every other day. Once I finish writing the last like 5 chapters, I'll move to every day to get this out as fast as possible, but who's to say when that'll happen. Wish me luck in that regard.
> 
> That's all for now, I'll see you all in two days!


	2. Open Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex Glass is slipping easily into small town life, and while Peter Nureyev may be ready to jump out of his skin, all is going according to plan. That is, until he walks into Biology and Juno Steel is waiting, and ready to actually have a conversation.

Peter slipped into life pretty easily. Startlingly easy, really. A small town like this was nothing like Phoenix. He couldn’t really get lost in crowds unless he really sought them out. There were a handful of stereotypical diners that all served the same food at varying levels of quality, a whole lot of trees, very few stores, and honestly not a whole lot to occupy himself. He tended to just go to school, do his homework, and go online, mostly without leaving his room. Naturally, the Khans had chores in their house and Omar and Noor were both very excited that they had someone in their lives that could do more...delicate tasks than the little kids. He helped out around the house as much as he could, went grocery shopping when asked, Noor magically and patiently turned Peter’s complete lack of cooking skills into that of a semi-competent assistant, and the Khans gave him his privacy otherwise.

The other thing that was apparently perfectly normal for this town, but absurdly strange to Peter, was the complete disappearance of Juno Aurinko. Apparently, his family would pull the kids out of school frequently, and the town didn’t bat an eye. The rest of his family came to school, which led Peter to believe Juno might be sick, but he doubted it. Regardless, it made school much easier for Peter. Biology was much smoother without Juno souring his mood. That certainly didn’t stop Peter from thinking of any and all passive aggressive insults he would send Juno’s way next he saw him, but he was given some time to rest for now.

Julian and the Kanagawas were interesting enough to be around. It was less of Peter actively seeking out their company and more of them demanding his attention when he was in their proximity, which was what Peter could tell happened to the rest of this town as well.

And he almost let himself get relaxed into this new situation. The Khans never pressed him too far past comfort, evidently afraid to ask him any questions about his past life and push him too far. And he blended in almost perfectly at school. No one even looked at him twice in the halls anymore. And he was perfectly okay with that. School came surprisingly easy to him. All it took was a little bit of reading and he was on top of each class. He expected it to be harder. And more interesting. But at least he could focus on Biology without Juno around.

That is until the day Peter walked in and Juno was back in his seat. Peter faltered a bit at seeing him, he hadn't seen Juno at lunch after all, but he didn’t let Juno see him hesitate as he walked right up and dropped his bag on the ground. Probably a little dramatic, but Peter figured he’d earned it. Juno glanced up at him, looking pretty guilty, but he wasn’t blocking his nose, so that was good news.

“Uh...hey,” Juno said, clearing his throat. Peter raised a brow, turning his head in his direction. He was honestly a little surprised at Juno’s voice, and how smooth and...nice it was when he wasn't enraged at a receptionist. And then Peter faltered again because last week, Juno’s eyes were dark and now...Well, they were golden.

“Hello,” Peter acknowledged. 

Juno scratched at the back of his head. “I’m, uh, I’m Juno. Juno Steel. Figured as lab partners or whatever we should probably know each other’s names.”

“Rex Glass. I’m sorry, you said Steel?”

“Yeah,” Juno said. “I'm guessing you’ve heard about my family, then?” Peter nodded and waited for an answer. “Yeah, I mean, they adopted us but they’ve asked us if we wanna keep our names and we all said yeah. I mean, what about you? Glass? You’re with the Khans.”

Peter saw the look of regret trace across Juno’s face before Peter allowed himself to laugh a little bit. 

“No, you’re right, that’s fair,” Peter admitted.

The teacher stepped in front of the class to get them started and Peter took stock of the microscope and slides on their table. He blearily tried to recall what it was they were even doing in that class before the teacher started explaining the stupid competition of guessing the phases of mitosis for a...golden...onion…

Why did Peter bother with coming to class again?

“You go ahead,” Juno said. “I’ll take the second one?”

So now Juno was interested in being Peter’s lab partner? Peter bit back his harsh remarks as he pulled the microscope towards himself. The assignment was easy enough that he was confident in their ability to do it.

“So, where were you?” Peter asked, both hoping for a conversation as well as wanting an answer for Juno’s mysterious disappearance after his complete outrage of sharing a class with Peter.

“Hunting,” Juno said easily. Like it was practiced.

Peter rolled his eyes as he put his face to the microscope.

“And what were you hunting for an entire week in the middle of the school year?”

“Uh...deer,” Juno said lamely.

“Prophase,” Peter said, pushing the microscope away from himself. “You don’t sound very confident in yourself, Juno. Do I have to ask again?”

“No, I was really out hunting,” Juno said. Then, he motioned to the microscope. “Mind if I check your work?”

“Be my guest,” Peter said. “Does that happen often for you?” Peter couldn't help but imagine the strange concept of Juno wearing a hunting vest and mounting deer antlers on his wall. It certainly didn't fit the image he had for Juno in his his head, not to mention the absurdity of a teenager actively skipping school for an entire week just to hunt a few deer. While Peter knew very little about hunting, he could guess that something like that could take just a weekend or maybe even wait until school wasn't in session.

Juno hesitated, then. It should have taken him just a few seconds of staring into the microscope to get a good look at it, but he stayed there for a while.

“Um, you’re right, it’s prophase,” Juno said, pushing the microscope away.

“I know I’m right,” Peter said. “Now, answer my question.”

“Are we lab partners or interrogators?” Juno asked. “Why so many questions?”

“Consider me curious,” Peter said. “Is there something wrong with a little curiosity?”

“No,” Juno admitted. “But I think it’s hardly fair. What if I have questions for you?”

“Not much to tell I’m afraid,” Peter admitted, watching as Juno switched out the slide for the next one. “Fresh start and all that. And I’d prefer not to talk about my past.”

Juno looked into the microscope again. In a second, he pulled away with the answer. “Metaphase. I hear you’re with the Khans. What’s all that like?” He paused for a moment while Peter contemplated his answer before motioning to the microscope. “Aren’t you gonna check my work?”

“I trust you,” Peter said, drumming his fingers on the table before he went to change out the slide. “I’ll bite. Omar and Noor are nice. A lot of small kids. They give me a lot of freedom to do what I want. Now you answer one of my questions...What’s your family like?”

“Sure, I guess we’re close,” Juno mused. “I dunno. Adoption, things get a little...eh…”

“I can understand that,” Peter said. He peeked through the microscope. “I suppose I’ll stop harassing you with my questions. We have a golden onion to win, after all.”

* * *

For some reason, Peter kept talking with Juno. Something about him just kept bringing Peter back. And now that he wasn’t being impossibly rude. He had a little bit of a humor to him that Peter found he liked. It certainly helped that Juno was so smart. He even gave Peter custody over their golden onion. How chivalrous. And it seemed that Juno really was in a better mood than before, since he was willing to follow Peter all the way to his next class. Peter knew this was an anomaly. In all of his time in Forks he hadn't seen any of the Aurinko family talk to anyone outside of their circle. Not to mention how many people were staring at them in shock. Despite all of the attention, though, Peter had no inclination to end the conversation. It was pleasant enough, and Peter couldn't help but be curious about this family. 

“So, how are you liking Forks?” Juno asked.

“It’s...small,” Peter granted. “Harder to vanish, certainly. I’m much more used to larger crowds and while there are many more eyes, they see less in a bigger city.”

“Yeah, well, I really get you about the eyes part,” Juno admitted. 

“People would probably focus on you less if you were less mysterious,” Peter joked. “Gallivanting off without a word and not talking to a single person might make you more of an enigma than you want to be.”

“Maybe,” Juno said, and he lingered on it like there was something else there, a latter part of a conversation he couldn’t have with Peter. For now, Peter tabled that. For now. Because the way they were talking, it seemed there was going to be a later.

“And you?” Peter asked. “How do you like Forks?”

“It’s...nice,” Juno mused. “Better than some other places I’ve been.”

“But not your favorite?” Peter asked. “Seems like you’ve been a lot of places. I have to admit, I’m a little jealous.”

“Nowhere like Arizona, I’ll tell you that much. We like to stick to...the Pacific Northwest I guess. Family likes the rain.”

“I can hardly imagine,” Peter muttered. He’d been here for a week and it was already more rain than he’d seen maybe his whole life in Phoenix. “And what about you, Juno?”

“What about me?”

“Well, it seems I’ve gotten myself a golden opportunity here,” Peter said. They were coming close to the gym building, so he was running out of time, yet he found himself not wanting this time he had to end. “Your family is the most fascinating topic in town. It seems none of you have a habit of talking to anyone, and then I get a chance to talk to the one the most people seem interested in.”

“ _ I’m _ the one most people are interested in?” Juno scoffed. “Don’t kid yourself.”

“No, I wouldn’t kid yourself,” Peter said. “I’ll admit I’m very interested. Once you get past the rude first impression.”

“Hey, I meant to ap-”

“No, no,” Peter said. “I don’t need your apologies. Just consider me curious. What’s a lady like you got to hide?”

Juno stiffened and Peter knew he pressed too hard, asked for too much. Where Juno was a little open, a lilting smile every now and then, now he squared his shoulders with a frown.

“I, uh…” Juno started walking towards a different building and leaving Peter alone in front of the gym. “I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Peter acknowledged. There was something about Juno that...infuriated him. But in a way that made it impossible to stop thinking about him. Even now, Peter glanced at where Juno was walking, unable to help but admire his all-around good looks.

Peter shook his head. This was all a little too...high school for him. Falling for the mysterious loner that didn’t talk to anyone and lurked in the shadows? What was he, a teen movie protagonist? No, he wasn’t here to make any friends in the long term. He was here to slip under the radar, turn 18, and then vanish like he always did.

He trudged into the gym building, absolutely dreading the next hour of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smaller chapter this time. I'm more or less following the original chapter structure of the books, so blame Stephanie Meyer for the chapter length, not me. Those of you that are familiar with Twilight might be noticing by now that I'm incorporating stuff from both the book and the movie and that is simply because I have no chill and there are parts of the book that are Amazing and weren't in the movies at all, but the movie does have gems such as the Golden Onion, which I love as a concept as a baby teacher trying to find ways to encourage the attention of children. Also, I have a deep, sincere love of the idea of imagining Peter of all people suffering through a PE class, and I hope you all will also enjoy the mental image of lanky baby Peter running around in gym shorts like it's the most painful experience in the world.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone that's reviewed so far! You've been really making my life these last few days!


	3. Phenomenon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first snow of the year in Forks, and that makes for slippery driving conditions. A close call brings Peter up close to something that really should be impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a warning here for some Twilight canon-typical gaslighting. While I'm putting in a lot of effort to make Juno nowhere near as bad as Edward, there's some ups and down early on where honestly this is how he would take it.

Peter almost got excited the next morning when he opened his eyes and the sky in his window was clear. He could even see the sun. But when he wandered closer, he could see the sinister truth laid out on the lawn. Snow. The first snow of the year. Peter could feel his lip curling in disgust at the sight of it. Just looking at it made Peter cold. He’d never actually seen snow in real life before, but he didn’t like the idea of it.

Still, he got himself ready for the day and Noor called out for him to mind the ice on her way out the door. Peter, now that he was alone, allowed himself a pout at the idea of going out there, but the heater on his truck worked fast, so it wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. He'd never genuinely been too cold before. Sure, Arizona could get down kind of low at night, but nothing like this. Peter also had never had to incorporate a winter coat into his style, and he really wasn't looking forward to it.

Stepping out of the door was just as distasteful as he would have guessed and he shivered. Already, his fingers and his nose were getting cold and he fought the urge to shrivel into himself, instead hurrying his pace to get to warmth. He ducked into the truck as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding slipping on some ice on the driveway. He wasn't normally so ungraceful, be also certainly wasn't expecting his foot to completely fall out from underneath him. And on top of it all, he had no experience driving in the snow and ice, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

But it was...surprisingly easy. The truck did great on the roads, didn’t even slide once. Once he got into the parking lot and he stepped out of the cab, he figured out why. Someone, probably Khan himself, had put chains on his tires for the bad weather. Peter bit his lip, feeling his heart constrict a little at the sight of it. Khan had probably gotten up extra early to put these on so Peter wouldn’t have to worry about it...and Peter was planning on just leaving him the second the opportunity presented itself.  He knew it was dangerous to go all this way and get adopted into a family, that he risked getting emotionally invested, but it was a risk he’d been willing to take. Or so he’d thought.

He was so invested in the emotional roller coaster a few chains set upon him that wasn’t paying all that much attention to his surroundings until he heard the tires screeching. He’d heard the sound plenty of times before, but only from far away. This was ear-splittingly close. And he didn’t look up fast enough to really take it all in before it was too late.

The way he would hear it later, Nova Zolotovna’s car swerved on the ice in the parking lot, going too fast, trying to impress a boy she’d taken a liking to. And when it lost control, it slid right towards Peter. Should’ve trapped him between the car and his truck, should’ve broken his legs. But Juno had been right there to save him, to push him aside. That’s what they told him.

But what Peter saw? Well, first off, and contrary to what others might say, Peter very clearly saw Juno on the other side of the parking lot. Then, Peter heard the tires and he blinked and then Juno was right in front of him, crouched, with his hand out in a protective stance. And around his hand, the metal was warped, bent,  _ broken. _ Peter stared in shock and awe as he came to terms with everything in front of him. Juno had stopped the car from hitting him.  _ Juno had stopped the car from hitting him. _

“Juno...what?”

Juno looked up at him, met his eye with a shocked expression that paralleled Peter’s shock, before he just up and ran away. Before anyone else got to him, before anyone could see him, Juno ran away, leaving Peter alone staring at the space where Juno’s hand had been, where the metal was very clearly bent.

“Rex! Rex, are you okay?”

“Oh, goodness, Rex, dear, I swear to you that was entirely an accident.”

“Rex, you got so lucky!”

“Someone call an ambulance!”

* * *

Peter still felt completely in shock as he sat in the hospital bed, listening to the nurses bustling around, more specifically helping the only person that was hurt; the driver had a bad case of whiplash. And what shocked him the most was the doctor helping him out. The nametag read Vespa Aurinko-Ilkay. Vespa was much like her children; flawless in every way with sunken, dark eyes, but she seemed much grumpier than the others by a long shot. Still, she was quick, efficient, and good at her job.

Vespa had just finished shining the small flashlight into his eyes when he heard the door behind him open and Omar Khan stepped in.

“Rex! I heard about what happened.” His tone changed when he turned to address poor Nova who had wrecked her car and her new haircut from the sound of her moaning. “Listen, kid, you and I are gonna have a conversation about your driving in a minute. Rex!”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Rex called over to him before looking closer at Vespa. “Thanks to your son, I guess. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

“Yeah, I heard he pulled you out of the way,” Vespa said matter-of-factly before turning to Khan. “He’s in good shape, Captain. Not a scratch.”

“Well, I would expect nothing less from the kid, tough as hammers, this one,” Khan said, patting Peter’s shoulder. “You sure you’re okay? No, like...trauma or anything?”

“I’m fine, I assure you,” Peter said, sliding off the bed. “As she said, not a scratch.”

Khan immediately started talking with Vespa and Peter took that as license to step out, at least from the room. Khan would still have to sign him out or however hospitals really worked, but he needed out of the room for now. Needed air from people telling him how ‘miraculous’ it was he survived. When Peter really knew the truth. Saw what Juno did.

He only barely stepped out of the room when he heard Juno’s voice, hushed but quick.

“-did was stupid, I won’t do it again.”

And then another person. Peter crept carefully around the corner to see if he could peek on the conversation. It had to be one of Juno’s siblings or maybe his other mother? He didn't recognize the voice.

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how big of a mistake this was, Juno.”

Then Juno again. “Yeah, sure, I’ll just let him die next time.”

A different voice again, this one deep, serious. “He likely wouldn’t have died. A car going at that speed would have just crushed his legs.”

The second Peter got a look around the corner, all of their eyes snapped to him. Juno was standing there with a woman with vibrant red hair covering one of her eyes and a very tall man wearing a large jacket, and all three were staring right at him. Neither were his siblings, so his other mother and...someone else...

Peter inwardly scoffed at himself. Maybe he was getting sloppy with his sneaking, but he could have sworn he stepped lightly enough. How did they notice him?

“I need to talk to you,” Peter said, staring at Juno. He figured he might as well take control of this conversation before the Aurinkos set in on him.

The two with Juno gave him meaningful stares, but Juno nodded and stepped toward him.

“What?” Juno asked.

“How did you do that?” Peter asked. “I saw you on the other side of the parking lot.”

“No, I was right next to you,” Juno said flippantly, urgently.

“Don’t,” Peter pressed. “Don’t patronize me. I know what I saw.”

“No one will believe you, you know,” Juno said then, evidently changing his tactic, and forcefully at that. Peter couldn’t help but scoff, changing his stance minutely.

“Really?” Peter asked. “Believe me when I say what?”

“I know what you  _ think _ you saw,” Juno said. “I heard you telling Vespa. I...look. I didn’t push the car away or anything, I just pulled you out of the way. No one’s gonna believe that weird story of me pushing the car away.”

“But that’s what happened,” Peter pressed. “I saw you.”

“No, you didn’t,” Juno said. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”

“I’m sure,” Peter said. “And I’ll get the truth out of you yet.”

“You know the truth,” Juno said.

“I will.” Peter allowed himself a smirk and Juno scowled at him. He would count this as a victory, then. “Now, go on back to your strange family. I won’t tell anyone. For now.”

Juno looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He just turned on his heel and walked briskly down the hallway. Peter took a breath, trying to figure out what all this was about, the strangeness he saw and whatever the hell it was Juno just did with him...Maybe there was something interesting to this town after all. And Peter was going to get to the bottom of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter one, but next one is much longer, I promise! Also as I'm writing the last chapters, the chapter number might change a little bit (mostly because I'm figuring out which chapters to just combine because Stephanie Meyer is not good at chapter breaks and I keep changing my mind and adding things and taking other things away) but not too much. 
> 
> In my re-reads of Twilight, I genuinely was quite surprised how awful the gaslighting is in this portion of the book. I have no fucking clue how Bella forgave Edward for the just wild treatment he gave her before she found out about the whole vampire thing. All of that is to say I'm toning it way the fuck down, mostly because I don't think Juno is the type of person to lean heavily into that tactic to get people to back off. He's much less subtle than that just in general.
> 
> Anyway, see you in two days!


	4. Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three times Peter is asked out by various people in his school and declines the offer, and the one time he agrees.

Peter thought he’d eventually get bored of school. Doing the exact same thing every day with the same people was a bore. At least in a big city like Phoenix, he could do something different each day, and if he did repeat activities, it was because he enjoyed it. Nothing truly beat the monotony that was going to the same math class at the same time every day to not pay attention.

And for the most part, the people were boring. Forks wasn’t bustling with different kinds of people. The kids here had all grown up with each other and their personalities started blending together. To an outsider like him, it was all painfully obvious that they were close to becoming the same person aside from what few things they decided to be distinct about. The most exciting of the bunch happened to be the few that lingered around Peter more than the initial welcome party.

But Juno Steel…

He was infuriating, to say the least. Peter was certain about what he’d seen Juno do. After coming back to school, all attention snapped back to Peter because he’d survived a terrible accident. Not to mention that Nova Zolotovna was now hanging off of his arm at every chance she could get, saying it was because her “little, old leg” couldn’t handle the pain, but she also wasn’t hiding the way she would rake her eyes up and down Peter’s entire body multiple times a minute. Peter honestly hadn’t paid her much mind before this whole fiasco, but now he was perfectly aware of her presence in a few of his classes, including Biology where she would glare daggers into the back of Juno’s head.

But Peter got all the attention for the accident, well, he and Nova, while Juno got off free. Peter tried to direct their attention to Juno, calling him a hero, but no one spared him much of a glance. Must have been his off-putting air. And the lady had the gall to be cocky about it. He’d smirk from across the cafeteria when Peter tried to draw attention to it, get the spotlight off of him once again. 

And Peter would give anything to get that spotlight off. He hated being the center of any kind of attention, especially when it wasn’t his intention. Sure, on a job with Mag, when he was playing distraction or luring a target into an alley, then he wanted the attention. But that only lasted a few minutes at most. This was lasting  _ days _ and no one was leaving him alone about it. It was annoying and he didn’t do well with the spotlight. He much preferred to just...disappear. 

And then there was Biology. Peter wasn’t sure if he dreaded the period every day or if he was excited about it. Juno as a lab partner was incredibly helpful and smart and probably nowhere near as academically challenged as he should be to excel. Peter did alright, he thought, especially considering his complete lack of formal schooling. The problem wasn’t how Juno worked as his lab partner, the real problem came with Juno’s near adamant refusal to talk to him. It grew to the point where Juno would only say what was absolutely necessary to finish whatever assignment they were working on, and then Peter would get nothing. As soon as the bell rang, Juno was out of the door in seconds flat. 

And of course Peter's mind kept lingering in his imagination. He knew what he saw when Juno saved him from that car. Juno knew it, too. Seemed like his whole family knew it. Peter wasn’t going to be satisfied until he knew exactly what happened. Which left his mind to linger about superheroes and other impossibilities for much longer than really necessary.

And Peter kept finding himself staring at Juno Steel. Peter noticed little details about him, then, like the fact that his eyes would slowly change from gold to black and suddenly shift once again back to gold, usually after the weekend. And like the fact that his skin wasn’t perfectly flawless after all. He was littered with scars, but they were so small, so thin, that Peter could only see them up close, sitting next to him for hours. He couldn’t quite discern what they really looked like from where he sat, he’d have to get closer (and what a challenge that would be), but he could tell that there was quite a deep one across Juno’s nose.

It went on like that for weeks. And Peter was damn near a boiling point about it, until one day was slightly different from the rest.

“It’s better if we’re not friends,” Juno said coldly one day at the end of class, shouldering his bag as he made his way out of the building.

“What?” Peter asked, following after him despite his better judgement. Juno tried to be fast, wanted to be faster than Peter (and Peter knew he could be faster) but Peter kept up with him.

“We shouldn’t keep doing this,” Juno said, looking at the ground as he walked.

“Then why bother?” Peter blurted out.

“Why bother with what?” Juno asked. He always looked a little angry when he asked Peter questions and that was one thing he could take pride in. Whenever Juno talked with other people, he never really asked questions. (No, Peter was  _ not _ watching him from afar whenever he had the chance. He was just observant.) It was as if Juno already knew what was going through their mind, and he came out on top of every conversation he ever had. But he asked Peter questions, and he looked mad that he had to do it, like the way he read other people wasn’t working on him, and Peter took that with great pride. At least he could annoy Juno with one thing as much as Juno annoyed him.

“Saving me,” Peter pressed. “If you actually hated me this much, it would have been easier if you’d just let me get crushed by that car.”

Juno stopped and Peter stopped with him.

“I don’t…” Juno stopped, thinking for a second. “You just have to trust me one this one.”

“And what have you done to earn my trust?” Peter asked.

“Nothing,” Juno admitted. “Maybe that’s a better argument for staying away from me.”

He started walking again and Peter just scoffed, turning to go to gym with much more force than was really necessary. Juno had a habit of oozing his own self-deprecation and Peter had learned not to press when that happened. Juno would just get angry with him and then the conversation really would go nowhere.

* * *

“Rex, dear,” Julian said one day at lunch while Peter was, infuriatingly, staring at Juno Steel from across the cafeteria. Peter knew he was being petty but he couldn’t help himself. Still, he darted his attention over to his friend while Cecil and Cassandra were bickering about which photo to use for the front page of their paper.

“Yes?” Peter asked.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, the winter dance is nearly upon us.” Peter most certainly was not aware, mostly because he had absolutely zero interest in experiencing that specific high school ritual. And he had a bad feeling as to where this conversation was going. “And if I want any chance to win both King and Queen for Prom in the spring, I need a good dance reputation. And I will have you know that you have definitely caught the eye of our little town, not to mention how dashing you are, and that’s not even including whatever you’ll look like really dressed up.”

Peter was good enough at crafting alibis by now that his excuse came out easily. All it took was a darting glance at the nearest poster plastered on the wall to check the date.

“I’m terribly sorry, Julian, I won’t be in town next Saturday,” Peter said. “I’m going to Seattle.”

“Well,” Julian sputtered, apparently not expecting to be turned down so quickly. “Whatever for?”

“It’s been a long-standing plan, I’m afraid,” Peter said. “I can’t change it.”

He didn’t need or want to come up with details for his excuse. In fact, he’d wanted to go to Seattle for a while. It was likely where he would go first when he did his vanishing act and it never hurt to scope out a city before he got there. It was large enough for him to vanish without much effort and it was nothing like Phoenix, so he should be fine. Next Saturday was as good a time as any to make the plan to go.

“Ah, I see,” Julian said, ever eager to keep up appearances, “I was only asking you as a backup for my real plan, anyways. You see, it’s always much flashier to go to these kinds of things alone.”

“Of course,” Peter supplied.

Only, it didn’t end there, strangely enough. At the end of the day, as Peter was just climbing into his truck, Cecil walked towards him with purpose and Peter faltered only out of curiosity.

“Hello, there, Rex,” Cecil said, really laying on the flirting thick as he leaned against the cab and batted some freshly done eyelashes in his direction. Peter inwardly rolled his eyes. He had a suspicion he knew where this was going.

“Hello, Cecil,” Peter said politely.

“I thought I overheard you talking with Julian during lunch about the dance…” Cecil said, drawing little circles in the dirt on Peter’s truck.

“Ah, then you know I won’t be able to go,” Peter said, already climbing into the cab, but Cecil was already in the doorway so that if Peter wanted to close the door, he’d crush Cecil. He briefly considered it anyway.

“Well, you see,” Cecil said with that high pitched giggle of his. “I was just kind of hoping you were letting him down easy. Maybe you’d think about reconsidering for someone else?”

A lot of things flittered through Peter’s mind in that moment, most of them rude. But he silenced them all if only for the sake of appearances and because he didn’t really dislike Cecil, though he certainly had his quirks…

“No, I’m really going to Seattle,” Peter insisted. “Terribly sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh,” Cecil pouted, lingering one last puppy dog eye at Peter as if he was hoping he would change his mind last minute. When he didn’t, Cecil perked right back up to his usual self. “Well, there’s always Prom then.”

“Perhaps,” Peter said, hoping not to sound too committal. It looked like he would have to plan another outing in a few months, then. Something bigger, perhaps. Like a fake meeting with a family member. Surely the Khans wouldn’t rat him out that easily…

Cecil happily scampered away then across the parking lot, back to his sister. And as Peter closed the door to his truck, his eye caught something else. Juno, leaning against his stupid, shiny car...laughing. It wasn’t a big laugh, nothing so daring as to give itself away, but there was a little smirk there and his shoulders shook just slightly. Enough for Peter to see all the way from here. Peter felt his temper flare up then as he turned the truck on and left his parking space at much too quick a speed to be safe, but he was surprised when he saw that Juno had pulled his car out of its spot, but his siblings weren’t in the car yet. In fact, he was idling there, right in front of Peter, waiting for his siblings and causing a line of cars to wait for him. Perfect.

Peter scoffed, flickering his glance towards the cafeteria, but the Aurinkos were barely getting into the parking lot at this point. Peter saw someone walking towards him in the reflection of his rear view and inwardly cringed at the sight of Nova walking towards him from her car just behind him. Still, he rolled down the window to greet her.

“Terribly sorry, Nova, I’ll move when I can,” he said, motioning towards Juno, who seemed to be staring at him through his own rear view mirror.

“Oh, no problem at all, Rex,” Nova said, her voice as flirtatious as always and Peter had a bad feeling about where this conversation was about to go, but he couldn’t stop it before it was out. “I was just wondering, you know, as one beautiful young thing to another, if you were taken for the dance coming up. You’d make quite the eye candy, I’m sure you know.”

“I’m going to be in Seattle,” Peter said briskly, if only to end this conversation as fast as possible. It wasn’t necessarily Nova’s fault he was in a bad mood. When Peter glanced towards Juno, he saw that Juno’s shoulders were trembling and his eyes were crinkled like there was a smile there. He was laughing at Peter’s misfortune.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Nova said, laying her drawl on thick as she leaned more into Peter’s cab and he couldn’t help but lean away from her. “Any way I could convince you to change those plans of yours?”

“Not at all, I’m afraid,” Peter said, watching as Juno’s family thankfully finally got to his car and Juno sped away into the highway. “And I must be getting home. Ta!” Peter didn’t even bother to see if Nova was safe from his tires before he also drove off, leaving her alone, but he didn’t really regret it. She was fine and he was able to escape the situation yet again.

Omar came home that night while Peter was helping Noor prepare dinner. Really, Peter was preparing dinner while Noor took care of the various needs of the various children while occasionally stirring a pot, but Peter wasn’t one to complain. It meant he had to learn on the go, which he was used to, and his cooking had improved a lot in the last few weeks. It still didn’t feel like near enough compensation for what the Khans were doing for him. Still, while Omar was putting away his work equipment, Peter figured he should at least warn, maybe even ask, about his trip to Seattle. Weekends with the Khans were normally a blur of activity with the kids always eager to go somewhere and Omar and Noor rarely ever forced Peter to come along. Peter didn’t expect his vanishing for a day would be too much of a hindrance on them, but he should at least bring it up.

So, when Omar stepped into the kitchen as he set about kissing the head of every child in sight (thankfully aside from Peter), Peter piped up, not looking up from the food he was making.

“I was thinking about going to Seattle next Saturday,” Peter announced and he didn’t miss how Omar’s head snapped up to attention at that. Normally, Peter didn’t talk much around them. It was much easier for him to disappear without a trace if they never really knew much about him in the first place. It was also much easier to play the part of brooding teenager with a dark past than it was any other role around the house. 

“Oh, uh, sure,” Khan said quickly. “We could all use a good change of pace, too, don’t you think Noor?”

“Actually, I was thinking alone,” Peter offered.

“Alone? In that truck?” Noor asked and Peter did have to admit it seemed like a stretch but it looked like she could make it.

“I plan on making a few stops on the way,” Peter assured. “I think I can handle it alone.”

The look on Khan’s face was telling, though. They’d given him a lot of trust in this town of Forks, but the idea of him going alone all the way to another city? Khan looked afraid that Peter was about to run away, but he wasn’t about to say it out loud. Sure, it made sense. There was a risk when it came to adopting someone like Peter Nureyev into their lives, but that just made it harder for Peter to go through with his plan. He needed more trust about things like this if he was ever going to go through with his plan, which to the credit of Omar and Noor, did in fact involve him running away. Still, it would make it hurt more in the end once he’d built up all that trust only to break it later.

“I need some books,” Peter offered. “The library here isn’t exactly...overflowing and I think I need more. I’m sure there are good stores in Seattle, plus I’m starting to miss the feeling of a city around me. Don’t worry, I’m coming back.”

“I don’t know, isn’t the school dance next Saturday?” Khan asked and Peter inwardly cursed. Of course in a small town everyone would know when a high school dance was happening.

“Those sorts of things don’t interest me, I’m afraid,” Peter said honestly, guiding a stray hand of a child away who was trying to sneak a taste of the meal before it was ready. “I know it’s a lot to ask, I’ve only been here for a short time…”

“Oh, go have fun,” Noor said, ruffling his hair lovingly and Peter fought not to flinch away from the contact, quickly returning everything to order once she was done. It felt a little too familiar to Mag, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud and risk hurting Noor.

“Uh, sure, yeah, go have some fun,” Khan said, albeit stiffly. “You need some gas money or anything?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine, thank you,” Peter assured. He had plenty of money now that he wasn’t worrying about buying a car. All he really had to worry about was the truck’s gas mileage. “Is there anything you would like for me to pick up while I’m there?”

With a promise to pick up a very specific type of honey that could only be found in one tiny storefront in downtown Seattle, the rest of the night went without much else, aside from the usual show-and-tell of what all the little kids did during their day at school or daycare.

And Peter only managed to make it to the parking lot the following morning before he was met with yet another surprise. He’d barely stepped out of the car before he jolted in surprise. Juno was standing right outside of the cab, staring right at him with those strangely intense eyes of his. Gold today. Peter hadn’t even noticed Juno in the parking lot when he got to school, how had he managed to get there so fast?

“Hey,” Juno said and Peter just stared at him.

“Really now, Juno, this is getting hard to follow,” Peter said after it seemed Juno wasn’t in the mood to say anything else. “You’ve made yourself perfectly clear that you don’t want to talk with me, why go through all the effort now?”

Juno stared into the parking lot for a while, worrying his lip like he was thinking hard about something.

“I said it’s better for you if we don’t talk,” he eventually said, turning his gaze back to Peter. “And I’ve been trying these last few weeks to...stay away. And it’s not… I can’t stay away from you.”

“You’ve certainly been giving it your best effort,” Peter said, quick and cutting.

“Yeah, I deserve that,” Juno said, shoulders slumped. “Would you believe me if I said I really was sorry for how awful I’ve been treating you?”

“Maybe if you really meant it,” Peter said. He leaned against the cab of his truck, too, crossing his arms over his chest. “You were quite petty about it yesterday after school.”

“Oh, the parking lot thing?” Juno asked, with that quick little grin of his that went quickly back to hiding. “That was just me trying to give Nova a shot at asking you to the dance. She’d been dying for it.”

“And you helped her?” Peter asked bluntly, now he was even more mad at Juno, who just seemed amused at that whole situation.

“Let me try making it up to you,” Juno said. “You doing anything next Saturday?”

Peter immediately tensed, just out of sheer reaction to the few people that already asked him to the dance. And just the idea of Juno ignoring him for  _ weeks _ and then suddenly asking him to the spring dance startled him to the point where he honestly had nothing to say. It took a few seconds of Juno patiently waiting for an answer before Peter was able to pipe up.

“What?” he asked, his voice a little too quiet for his liking.

“I’ve, uh, heard around that you’re going to Seattle,” Juno said sheepishly. “Just so happens I wanna go up there sometime soon and that day seems as good as any. Mind if I give you a ride?”

“Why?” Peter asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Juno said, raking his eyes over Peter’s truck, which by now he’d affectionately named Ruby and was feeling very protective over. “Uh, no offense but that thing doesn’t look like it could get all the way to Seattle on a single tank of gas.”

“She’ll make it there just fine,” Peter said stiffly.

Juno smiled then, a lop-sided thing that made Peter’s stomach flip over a few times. Dammit, he wasn’t charming, he was obnoxious and irritating. Peter tensed and forced a frown onto his face.

“A ride there and back, no charge to you, plus it, uh, gets us both out of here for the dance that I don’t think either of us wants to go to,” Juno offered. “I’ll take you anywhere you want.”

“Does this mean you’ll stop avoiding me?” Peter asked. “You’ll actually talk with me? Maybe even answer my questions when I ask them? Honestly?”

“I don’t think I wanna stop talking with you to be honest,” Juno said. “I’ve tried that and it wasn’t any fun for either of us. I want to see what happens when we do try talking. Who knows? Maybe we’ll enjoy it.”

“Maybe we will,” Peter said. It was his curiosity that won him over more than anything else. He wanted to know more about Juno Steel and the only way to get the answers he craved was to keep talking with him. Maybe he’d find out before they went to Seattle together or maybe not, but all that mattered was that they were talking again.

“See you in Biology, then. You really should stay away from me, though” Juno said with a nod, walking towards the school to join with his siblings, who all were either glaring at Juno or looking at him with some level of heavy concern. Peter was certainly intrigued, and he knew he would get to the bottom of this mystery eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter's basically canon inability to cook versus Noor's calm ability to teach even Omar Khan how to do day-to-day tasks...fight! I don't think Peter's a GOOD cook here, to be clear, I just think he's passable while Noor is around to at least check in on him every once in a while. If he were left to his own devices on anything past like cereal, he'd be a lost cause.
> 
> An interesting thing I noticed while re-reading and now re-writing Twilight is that when I remember it, I always think it's more exciting than it really is. And then while you actually read through it, it's an incredibly boring first, like 100 pages with only a little bit of excitement to keep you going. Doing my best to keep it interesting, hopefully I'm doing okay!
> 
> Thanks again to everyone that's been leaving comments! They mean a lot to me even if I'm too awkward to reply to them!


	5. Blood Type

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unfortunate memory hits Peter in the middle of Biology, but luckily Juno is nearby to help him out. Maybe they have an emotional connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who read the books, get excited. Anyone who's never read the books, get ready for a scene the movie had no business cutting because it's one of the best scenes in the book.

Peter did his best to pay attention to school that day, honestly, but Juno, infuriatingly enough, kept entering his mind and lingering there. Peter knew he should be angry or at least annoyed with Juno, and he was. The intolerable way he would talk with Peter before deciding to ignore him for a few weeks, or the way he was  _ toying _ with Peter this last day… And at the same time...stars, Peter was curious. Maybe curious wasn’t the right word. But it was the only word he was willing to use to explain why his stare would linger on Juno longer when he flashed that bright smile of his, or the way his eyes glinted with excitement when he was being clever in Biology. Curiosity was the only word he was willing to use to explain why he’d stared at Juno long enough to figure out that his skin wasn’t as flawless as Peter had initially thought. 

Yes, just curiosity was all.

He was still so obsessed about it that he wasn’t even fully paying attention in lunch until someone said Juno’s name. That certainly got all of his attention rather quickly, infuriatingly enough.

“Looks like Juno Steel is waiting for you,” Cecil said, almost snidely. Peter jolted, but when he followed Cecil’s gaze, he saw that Juno wasn’t sitting at his usual table with his siblings. They were at their usual table but Juno was alone at a completely different table, intense gaze meeting Peter’s with a small nod to the seat in front of him at the table. 

“So it seems,” Peter mused. At least this meant Juno wasn’t going to keep up his pattern of talking to Peter once before going radio silent. Peter didn’t even pay attention to what he got for lunch before he marched up to Juno’s table and sat down.

“You came,” Juno said, sounding a little surprised. Peter glanced around the rest of the room, and he knew they were trying to be stealthy about it, but it seemed the entire room was looking right at them. Yeah, Peter figured this was one of the most exciting things that had happened in this school since he nearly got hit by a car.

“How could I turn down this invitation?” Peter asked. “Is there something you want?”

“Well, I figured if I’m already going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly,” Juno said, quick and quiet like he was saying a joke Peter didn’t fully understand yet.

“Going to hell?” Peter asked and Juno nodded, but he changed the subject almost immediately.

“Looks like your friends are a little upset I’ve stolen you away,” Juno said, with that stupid crooked grin again. Peter wanted to just...smack it off of him sometimes.

“They’ll manage,” Peter said.

“I might not want to give you back, though,” Juno said, much more flirtatious than anything Peter had seen from him before.

“And this coming from the lady who said this was dangerous,” Peter said, just as playfully.

“I said before I’ve given up on that,” Juno said. “I’ve been playing nice for a long time. Maybe...maybe I can stand to be a little selfish sometimes. Play a little too close to the fire.”

“There you go again,” Peter mused. “I’m afraid I don’t follow your meaning.”

“That’s for the best,” Juno muttered with a frown. “I always say too much around you. It’s a real problem.”

“Sounds tragic,” Peter said. Honestly, Juno barely said anything around him, so what on Earth did Juno mean that he said too much? “Maybe you could tell me more.”

“I’ll tell you more if you tell me more,” Juno said. He knew how to make Peter shut up, certainly. There was a look in his eyes that was honestly curious, but that little smart ass smirk was playing at his lips. And Peter didn’t want to share anything with him.

“What are you thinking?” Juno asked, leaning forward.

“Nothing,” Peter said and Juno frowned again.

“See, now that’s frustrating,” Juno huffed.

“Finally, something that frustrates you more than it does me,” Peter said. They’d gotten very close, Peter noticed, but only when Juno chuckled, looking over Peter’s shoulder.

“Your girlfriend seems like she wants to interfere pretty bad,” Juno said and Peter spared a quick glance. Nova was staring at them with such an intense look in her eyes, it was nearly impressive.

“I can assure you, she’s certainly not that,” Peter said, honestly a little surprised by the revulsion that shot through him at the very idea of dating Nova.

“She seems to think she is,” Juno said.

“And what are we?” Peter asked, eager to get the conversation off Nova. “Friends?”

“Friends…” Juno mulled over the word, tasting it on his tongue, but it didn’t sound like he was satisfied by it. “Sure, that could be it.”

“You don’t sound too confident, shall we try again?” Peter offered.

“No, I think this is safe for now,” Juno said quickly. He drummed his fingers absently on the table, one of his habits it seemed, and Peter couldn’t help but get a flash of the memory of those hands warping metal, pushing an entire car away with ease. Juno seemed to follow Peter’s train of thought as best as he could before he caught Peter’s eyes again. “So, you said you were going to come up with an answer to what happened with the accident. You made any progress on that?”

“You didn’t seem too eager before when I brought it up,” Peter said, mostly as a way to get out of saying what he was thinking to Juno’s face. None of his theories were solid enough or made any sense to introduce to the light of day yet.

“Well, I’d prefer to know what you’re thinking about it,” Juno said. “You shouldn’t be sticking your nose into it, but at least if I know where you’re at, I know what to expect.”

“Well, the main contenders are currently somewhere between radioactive spiders and distant planets,” Peter said, half playfully and half to test the waters and see how Juno responded.

And Juno laughed, a lilt of a thing that Peter hated to say was quite charming. But then Juno got a serious look on his face as he got even closer to Peter.

“What if I were to tell you the truth was a little less...superhero?” Juno offered. “What if I told you I was the villain? That I was dangerous?”

“Well, I wouldn’t doubt that,” Peter said. The memory of the totaled car was clear in his mind, and Juno hardly seemed like he was trying, then. “Dangerous, I’ll grant. But you? A villain? I’m afraid you hardly look the type.”

“The worst villains never do,” Juno said.

“I’ll consider it,” Peter said. “But I think you’re giving yourself far too much credit.”

Peter took a glance around the cafeteria and noticed that it was nearly empty by now. He checked the clock on the wall and inwardly cursed. How had he missed the bell ringing?

“We’re going to be late,” Peter said, standing up to collect his things. He hadn’t even touched his food. And Juno hadn’t had any to begin with…

“I’m not going to class,” Juno said, relaxing where he was. They had Biology next together and Peter couldn’t help but feel the small pang in his heart at the idea of not seeing Juno for that next hour.

“And why not?” Peter asked.

“It’s healthy to skip every now and then,” Juno said. And the way he said it, almost nostalgic, made Peter wonder just how much school Juno’s skipped in the past. He looked the type of delinquent far more than model student, certainly. And Peter lingered for a moment, just to entertain the thought of skipping class as well.

But he had an image to keep. Omar and Noor were only giving him so much free reign because he was on his best behavior. If he started acting out, they would keep a closer eye on him, maybe not even let him go to Seattle. No, he had to go to class and keep up appearances for this plan to go through. So, he said his goodbyes to Juno before heading to class.

Thankfully, he made it there faster than the teacher, who was definitely running late, and he made it to his seat with plenty of time to spare, though it felt strangely empty without Juno beside him. Peter barely paid any attention to class as he was lost in thought. Juno had been pretty attentive at coming to all of his classes, so why was he skipping today? And just this class? He was already at school, so what was the point?

Nova placed something in front of him, then, and Peter started vaguely paying attention to the instructions the teacher was giving them and his stomach lurched. The teacher was holding up an example piece of plastic as he talked about the proper procedure for the lab. Peter’s suspicions were confirmed when Nova, ever the enthusiastic model, offered her finger to the teacher, who pressed the plastic, and the invisible barb, into her finger. She winced, but then Peter saw the blood.

It wasn’t the sight of blood that bothered Peter. And under normal circumstances, nothing about it would have bothered him. But then the classroom rose in volume as the rest of the class excitedly got to work and more fingers were pricked. With that much all together, Peter could  _ smell  _ it. The metallic tang of the blood, the familiar way it wafted around him.

The smell was far too familiar and it sent Peter spiraling into a memory he had filed away in hopes of never seeing again. But he could smell the blood, feel it coating his hands as he held the knife out in front of him. Stars, he could see Mag’s wide, owlish eyes staring at him with that soft look. He could hear Mag say his name like he was still proud of him. Peter could feel the blood dripping from his face after Mag had touched his cheek.

“Rex, dear, you look paler than a ghost in the snow,” Nova’s voice pierced the image and Peter looked up at her, feeling his heart slamming in his chest. He needed to get out of here. Now.

“I need to get out of here,” Peter said, forgoing any smooth appearance as he tried to stand, but his legs failed him. 

_ Oh, Peter… _

“Nova,” the teacher said, looking at them with pity. “Would you mind taking Rex to the nurse?”

“Of course,” Nova said, eagerly helping Peter to his feet.

He could play this off. Once he got some distance he could twist this how he needed it, but he needed to get away from that awful scent and his mind could return to order, but he couldn’t stop seeing Mag’s face and the  _ blood. So much blood and the knife… _

Peter was grateful for once at how cool it was outside, but Nova only got him a little further before Peter’s legs failed him again and they had to stop walking.

“Sweetheart, I don’t think now is the best time to stop…” Nova tried.

“I’m fine,” Peter assured, hurriedly. Now that he was out of the room, he could control himself. He just needed to collect his thoughts. “Just...allow me to sit down.”

He sat down before she could even mutter an argument. Peter ran a shaking hand through his hair as he sat on the sidewalk, his body clambering to calm down but his mind still running that same damn scene in his mind over and over again. Sometimes Peter was even sure there was still blood on his hands.

“Rex?”

Peter jolted again at the familiar voice. No, not now. Anything but him. But when Peter looked up, Juno Steel was running towards them, like a knight on a beam of goddamn starlight.

“I’m fine,” Peter assured them. “I just had to get out of the room.”

“What happened?” Juno asked, genuinely sounding concerned. Peter would deal with what that meant later. For now he was fighting the bile threatening to rise in his throat as his brain reminded his nose exactly what a dead body smells like.

“Well, we’re blood typing in class,” Nova started. “He’s had himself a bit of a spell, but I was just taking him-”

“Come on, Rex, let’s get you to the nurse,” Juno said, already helping Peter get to his feet once again. He had such a steady grip on Peter, it helped ground him. And it surprised him a little. Juno certainly wasn’t small, but that grip was very strong. Then again, there was the car...

“Excuse me,” Nova said, sounding personally offended. “I was-”

“I’ve got him,” Juno assured, already leading Peter down the sidewalk at a quick pace. Peter’s head swam. He tried to close his eyes, but all he saw was Mag’s eyes and he forced them back open again. “Jeez, you faint at the sight of blood, Rex?”

There was a joke there Peter was missing, but he ignored it for now. He had more things to worry about. He focused breathing in the clean air, assuring himself there really was no blood anywhere near his nose.

“Just a bad memory,” Peter said absently.

“Sorry to hear that,” Juno said.

And they had been travelling fast because they were in the front office before long. Juno only had to spare a glance at the receptionist before they ducked back to the nurse.

“Oh, dear,” the nurse said, already on her feet as Juno helped Peter sit down on the nearest bed. “What’s happened?”

“Blood typing in Biology,” Juno offered in explanation.

“There’s always one,” the nurse said, ducking out of the room. Peter didn’t fight it. It was much easier to pretend he just didn’t like blood than to tell the real truth. The memories were starting to recede now, which was good. The initial panic was washing away, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

“You sure you’re alright, Rex?” Juno asked.

“I will be,” Peter said with a nod. The nurse came back with a cup of water, which he took greedily. 

“You can go back to class now, dear,” the nurse said to Juno, who just shook his head.

“I was told to stay with him,” Juno said with such conviction that the nurse just nodded and went back to what she was doing.

“You seemed to find me rather fast, Juno,” Peter said, “what were you doing?”

“I was in my car, listening to some music,” Juno said and when Peter glanced up at him...he believed him. What a mundane answer. “You weren’t really stealthy about it.”

“Perhaps I wasn’t,” Peter admitted.

They were interrupted when Nova entered, helping someone else limp into the nurse’s office.

“We should get you out of here,” Juno said quickly and Peter paled when he caught a whiff of that damn scent again. This kid wasn’t in here because he didn’t like the sight of blood. The idiot must have made a mistake in the lab. Peter didn’t fight it when Juno led him out into the rest of the front office, sitting him down on one of the chairs in the waiting area. Peter felt the tremors come back, but he fought back the memories now that he was prepared for them to come. 

Damn, he thought he’d be over this for now. All those memories had been carefully stored away to never be seen again, and yet there they were, spilled right in front of his eyes.

“Never would’ve thought Rex Glass would be laid low by the sight of blood,” Juno said, a little playfully, but he was still watching Peter like a hawk.

“Not the sight, the  _ smell _ ,” Peter said with distaste. He could still smell that lingering copper scent in the air and swallowed down the panic threatening to rise again.

“Humans can’t smell blood in that small of an amount,” Juno said and Peter filed that away to consider later as well.

“Well, some of us have gotten good at it,” Peter said, glancing up at Juno. Something about him was grounding. Amidst all the horrifying memories and the panic, Juno was steady and present. Peter found himself seeking out those barely visible scars to distract himself and he felt the panic subside, leaving his limbs heavy as lead, but at least he was calming down.

“Good to see you made it, Rex,” Nova said as she exited the nurse’s office, very purposefully placing herself between Peter and Juno. Juno, to his credit, just seemed amused by it. “Should I help you back to class?”

“Probably best if I wait here,” Peter said. “If I go back, I’ll just wind up here again.”

“Too bad,” Nova said. She glanced at Juno out of the corner of her eye. “So, you’re still going to the beach this Saturday?”

“I already agreed to that, yes,” Peter said, much too tired for a conversation with Nova. He could tell by the way she was looking at Juno, she was saying this to assert dominance or something, but Peter wasn’t in the mood to dissect her intentions at the moment.

“Fantastic, I’ll be seeing you around then,” she said, lingering a glare at Juno before she made her way out of the building.

“Doesn’t look like going back to class is in the cards, then,” Juno said, taking in Peter’s exhaustion. Peter just nodded in assent. “Let me take you home.”

Before Peter could protest, Juno was at the front desk, talking to the receptionist in that charming way of his. It was always disarming when it happened, but Juno knew how to use it to his advantage. All it took was some lingering glances with those intense eyes of his and the receptionist allowed it all. Peter would leave early and Juno, too. Granted, it wasn’t  _ that  _ impressive. Peter was sure he could do it, too, if he wanted to.

“Quite charming,” Peter noted as Juno came to his side. Peter got himself standing, but he was still a little wobbly, and Juno offered an arm to steady him, which Peter accepted. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“Less hassle this way,” Juno said, leading him back outside. The cold air was once again welcome and Peter let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least this way he could get out of PE. That was certainly a plus.

When Peter started walking towards Ruby, however, Juno pulled him back.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Juno asked.

“Home?” Peter asked.

“Not when I just saw you swoon on the sidewalk a few minutes ago,” Juno said. “Come on, I’ll drive you home. Rita can get your truck back to your place.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I’m not arguing on this one, Rex,” Juno said. “You’re not fit to drive safely.”

Peter allowed himself to get pulled to Juno’s car. It wasn’t unpleasant, certainly a lot quieter than Ruby was, and just as warm and dry. They were out of the parking lot in moments, just long enough for Peter to notice the song playing through the speakers.

“Clair de Lune?” Peter asked. “I didn’t take you as a fan of classical music, Juno.”

“Didn’t take you as the kind of guy to recognize it, Rex,” Juno said.

“An old friend of mine would listen to it a lot,” Peter said, happy for a good memory of Mag after so many bad ones in a row. “I only remember my favorites.”

“An old friend?” Juno asked. He wasn’t really prying, just curious. And Peter was tired. Maybe that’s why he opened up the way he did, so unexpectedly. Maybe it was the soft look in Juno’s eyes. Regardless…

“Mag,” Peter said. “He was the one who took care of me before...well, before the mess that got me here.”

“What was he like?” Juno asked, softly. Again, not prying, just a gentle prod. Unlike all the people that heard of Mag before him, he didn’t ask for the hard details. He didn’t care about the mess Peter referenced, but he wanted to know what made Peter smile. By no means did Peter have to keep going. But he wanted to.

“Kind,” Peter said, allowing a smile to cross his face. “Nicer than most people I’d met in Phoenix. He taught me a lot, always wanted to see the good in people. He was a good man, when it suited him.” He straightened then. “And what about you? Any fond memories of past lives?”

“Fond?” Juno asked with a sad smile that nearly broke Peter’s heart. “Not really. Ma had her good days before sure, and remembering my brother just makes me a little sad to be honest. But he was the brightest of us. I’ve got better memories of Buddy and the others. They’ve been taking good care of me for much longer.”

Peter looked out the window, watching the rain fall and pour around the window. And he saw the Khans’ house much too soon. He didn’t want to leave the safe, warm haven they’d made in this car, where Peter had been more honest with anyone in his life since Mag and Juno had said something with maybe the same level of honesty. Juno parked in front of the driveway and Peter could already see Noor peeking out of the kitchen window curiously.

Seeking out something to keep the conversation going, Peter grasped out at straws. “You know, when Nova was talking about the beach...you could come if you wanted? I’m already a plus one, might as well tack on another one.”

“Which beach?” Juno asked.

“First Beach, in La Push,” Peter supplied, a small thrill going down his spine now that Juno was really considering it. But as soon as the words fell out of his mouth, Juno tensed a little.

“Sorry,” Juno said. “Not much of a beach person. You have fun, though.”

“Right, of course,” Peter said.

“Perfect beach weather,” Juno offered, motioning to the rain washing over his car and Peter allowed himself a small laugh at that.

He looked back at the house, at Noor waiting patiently despite the children that were either sick that day or not old enough for daycare clambering around her. And Peter knew this moment couldn’t last forever, as much as he would like it to. He allowed himself another long look at Juno, still a little vulnerable from whatever they’d just shared with each other.

“Juno,” Peter breathed. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Juno said. “Anytime. I’ll make sure to send Rita your way with the truck.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Peter asked.

“Nah,” Juno said. “Alessandra and I are getting an early start to the weekend. Hunting.” He said it like a secret joke and Peter nearly laughed with him this time. “But I’ll see you Monday. No cold shoulder this time, I promise.”

“I certainly hope so,” Peter said. His fingers lingered too long on the car door, not wanting to break the trance but knowing he had to. With a deep breath, he did, and the cold and rain hit as the moment was broken. He waved goodbye to Juno before heading inside to explain his early arrival to Noor, who had a lot of questions about what he was doing with Juno Steel at home early on a school day.

It was only an hour later Peter remembered to look for Ruby. He figured he would have heard her when she was dropped off, but when he looked, she was sitting in the driveway like she’d always been there. Juno’s family was getting more and more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just have to dramatically swoon into the arms of a vampire you have a crush on, who swung in on a beam of goddamn starlight to save the day and that's okay. If Peter weren't in the middle of a crisis for most of this chapter, I like to think he would've taken full advantage of this position. As it is, Juno's too much of a lady to take advantage of any of this, but I'm sure he enjoyed the small bit of vulnerability.
> 
> Thank you everyone who is reading and reviewing! Love you all!


	6. Scary Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise guest enters the fray, and tells Peter some scary stories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just know that I have no proper explanation for this other than the fact that it seemed funny.

The next day of school was terribly boring, though Peter chalked that up to the fact that Juno wasn’t there. He could say what he wanted about the lady, but at least he kept things interesting. Of course, Peter’s friends wanted to know what Juno wanted, but Peter knew how to be cryptic while also not giving them too much to work with. He almost wanted the mystery of Juno Steel all to himself.

And then he let the Khans know about the plan on the weekend to go to La Push. Peter’s new “parents” were happy about it. They were thrilled, really. Omar practically demanded to know who the kids were, probably knew all their parents, and he seemed to approve (though Noor certainly had a few hangups with the Kanagawas in general but she assured Peter the twins were nice enough). Peter knew it was because they were happy he was getting to know people. He was an adopted teenager with a dark past, of course they were worried about him. But he was making friends now, so he must be doing better, they were sure.

Peter had been around enough adults in the foster care system that he could guess what they were all thinking by now. Even though Noor and Omar were nicer than most of the others, everyone was the same in the end. It was easier knowing he would leave them eventually if he kept them clumped together with all the other people he’d left behind in Phoenix.

When Peter woke up the next morning, however, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw the sun. No clouds in the sky, no rain falling or that damned ice. Peter couldn’t help but smile for a bit at the sight of it. That was one thing he’d allowed himself to miss about where he’d once called home, and seeing it again actually filled him with a little warmth. Maybe today wouldn’t be all that bad at the beach after all.

It still probably wouldn’t be all that warm, but it would be better than rain.

He drove to the news station the Kanagawas owned. What they were reporting about and to whom, Peter wasn’t sure, but it was the perfect place for everyone to meet up and Peter could switch to a vehicle with better mileage. He felt bad about leaving Ruby behind so often, but he had to do what was necessary for his own wallet. Cecil and Cassandra were already chatting with Julian at their car and Nova was flittering between any of the boys present she found attractive. She immediately perked up at the sight of Peter. It was a little too early for Peter to be willing to deal with her, so he ducked over to the Kanagawas in hopes that they would keep him safe, at least for a little while.

And they did. Nova seemed surprised that Peter hadn’t brought someone else with him, probably thought he’d invited Juno...which he did, but it wasn’t like he’d accepted the invitation. It wasn’t like Peter thought he would accept in the first place. He’d just hoped Juno would accept.

Soon enough, they were on their way, and Peter was more than happy to sit back and allow himself to think. He even rolled the window down to feel more of the sun on his face. It was a little cold out, but the sun offered a little bit of added heat, which he was grateful for. He found himself wondering how Juno was appreciating the sun, on his camping trip. 

And immediately cursed himself for thinking about Juno yet again without him there. He wouldn’t allow himself to focus too much on this one person. He knew better than to get attached to anyone on a job. In hopefully a matter of months, Peter will have moved on and Juno Steel would be nothing more than just a memory, albeit a strange one.

He filed away the pang he felt in his heart at the thought of leaving behind Juno. That wasn’t something he could afford to think about right now.

Almost the second they got to the beach, several kids jumped out and started getting to work. It seemed this was a regular excursion for their group, and everyone already had a job. There wasn’t anything left for Peter to do, so he allowed himself to be guided to where they were apparently building a bonfire.

“Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?” Nova asked, happily sitting beside Peter and leaning far too close for comfort. Peter leaned away politely for now.

“No, I haven’t,” Peter said honestly.

“Well, you are in for a treat, dear,” Nova said. “It’s prettier than anything you’ve ever seen, believe you me.”

And, honestly, it was very pretty. It was blue, which was something that took Peter by surprise when he first saw it, leaning forward to look further. Sticking around these friends of his were useful for giving him all sorts of new experiences. He made sure to make note of all these things for the future in case he ever needed it for a job.

“Don’t that sight just give you the vapors?” Nova said, fanning herself as if it wasn’t still very chilly around them. Peter already knew the bonfire would be indispensable as more and more kids came back with wood to keep it up for a while.

Before Nova could kidnap more of his attention, it seemed the group was already splitting up. Some of the group was hungry and another group was going to go for the tide pools. Nova happily chimed in that she was starving, so Peter’s decision was really made for him. He wasn’t all that interested in the small ecosystems in the rocks, but he looked around anyway. Again, more information to put away later if he needed it. He even allowed someone to dump information on him about the tidepools and their inhabitants because it could come in handy. Maybe his next persona could be someone interested in such things. He tried to remember as much information as possible to write down later.

When they got back, Peter took refuge next to Julian. As obnoxious as he could be, he took no for an answer, plus he wouldn’t stop talking to Peter about this really attractive guy, Anthony, that he was flirting heavily with whenever Peter wasn’t talking with him. Still, Nova seemed at bay during lunch at least. Peter would have to start getting more creative with his excuses to get out of talking with her because it looked like she was more than ready to barge in soon.

It seemed Peter’s luck was still running high, though, when he noticed more kids coming to join them. He didn’t recognize them, but the other kids with him recognized them well enough. When he dragged Julian’s attention away from Anthony for long enough to ask, he flippantly said something about how they were from the reservation there in La Push. While the two groups didn’t interact much, teens from Forks came to La Push often enough that they all knew each other on sight.

Which made Peter stick out like a sore thumb, his least favorite state of being.

Peter allowed the others to do his introductions for him, and most of the boys that had joined them didn’t really look twice at him after that. There was one, however, that stared at him a little longer than the others, perked up when they referred to the Khans. Peter was willing to just let it go, but once Nova got up to walk over to him, Peter decided this new person was better than her, so he got up and decided to risk it.

“I’m afraid I didn’t get your name?” Peter asked, walking up to him. Nova pouted in the background, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment.

The boy Peter had walked up to seemed surprised, but he was charismatic enough to play it off.

“Jacob Black,” the boy said. “They said you’re with the Khans?”

“You know them?” Peter asked.

“That truck you’re driving is from my dad,” Jacob said. “He lost his legs, figured it wasn’t very useful anymore. Are you making good use of it?”

“Pass on my thanks to you father,” Peter said. 

“No, let  _ me _ thank  _ you _ ,” Jacob assured. “Dad kept saying I couldn’t start fixing up my own car with a perfectly good truck around. Now I can finally work on making something that can reach the speed limit.”

“She’s plenty fast,” Peter said, almost protective over the truck now. He still wasn’t quite ready to let her go, despite her lack of ability as a getaway car.

“You’ve already named her, huh?” Jacob asked with a laugh. He was surprisingly pleasant to talk to, especially considering Peter’s luck with acquaintances. 

“Ruby,” Peter said.

“It suits her,” Jacob said.

“Say, Rex,” Nova drawled, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders and leaning into their space. Perhaps she was getting jealous, still Peter took a deep breath to control the small rise in anger. “Isn’t it such a shame the Aurinkos couldn’t make it?”

Peter knew she didn’t even know that Peter had invited Juno, but she said it so confidently. Peter was certain she was jealous of anyone that got near him now, and he didn’t even allow himself to feel bad about it. She wouldn’t rest around him and he had no interest in her. He just kept her close like this just in case she could be useful, a bad habit he wasn’t sure he needed right now, but kept anyway.

Peter’s thoughts were interrupted, however, when one of the kids that had come with Jacob spoke in a clear, deep voice that nearly reverberated in Peter’s chest.

“The Aurinkos don’t come here.”

Peter started at that, not because of what the man said, but because of  _ how _ he said it. It wasn’t a statement or an observation, more so a command, a warning. It made the air around them incredibly tense, something Nova and the others ignored almost immediately but Peter couldn’t help but get hung up on. Nova was distracted enough by the man with the low voice to drape herself across his shoulders. It could have been the height, the voice, the age, or the overall attractiveness, but Peter didn’t care. Anything to give him distance. 

“So, is Forks driving you insane yet?” Jacob asked. “You’re from Arizona, right?”

“The rain is certainly something to get used to,” Peter said, frowning at the sky as the clouds were starting to close in. “It’s not all bad.”

Jacob grinned sympathetically. “Saying it like that means there’s a lot of bad. Trust me, small town life has nothing on rez life. It’s driving me nuts, too. Why do you think I’m so excited to drive a car out of here, even if it is just for a little break?”

Peter thought for a moment, still mulling over what the man said earlier. And while he was staring, he made accidental eye contact with Nova. He didn’t want her to remember he existed, so he quickly nodded to the beach.

“Care for a quick stroll?” Peter asked Jacob. 

Jacob glanced at the others and smiled at Peter.

“Yeah, sure, let’s get out of here.”

Peter watched as the sky got darker with the sea as they started their walk away from the group. He had a hunch he was hoping was right, but he had to play his cards right. This was something he was good at, something he’d practiced. He felt a little bad using this new friend of his, but Peter had learned to swallow his guilt early on with Mag. A mark was a mark, no matter how kind or trusting they were.

First rule of thieving: don’t blame yourself for everyone else’s lack of experience.

“Nice friends of yours,” Jacob said, nodding back to their group.

“They weren’t my first choice,” Peter admitted readily. “But they seem to stick to me. And what about your friends?”

“Sam’s not my friend,” Jacob said. “I don’t really hang out with his group. My friends are around, but I think they went off to the shops with your guys.”

“Well, now I feel special, having you all to myself.” Peter paused for a moment, allowing a little time to pass before he asked anything too much of Jacob. “Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“What Sam said before, about the Aurinkos…” Peter let himself trail off, let Jacob fill in the rest. That was the best way to get the most information, instead of leading the question.

And Jacob’s reaction nearly did the job for him. He tensed, looking out into the ocean for a bit and Peter waited for a few waves to beat at the sand before he kept going.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Peter said. He allowed himself to step closer to Jacob, pressing the boundaries to see how much he could get away with. Besides, he didn’t know if Jacob was even interested in men. Didn’t mean he wasn’t still laying it on a little thick as he tried to catch his eye.

“No, it’s fine, I’m just...not supposed to talk about it,” Jacob said, and there was an air about his voice, playful and joking.

“I’m good at keeping secrets,” Peter assured, nudging Jacob with his shoulder and Jacob snickered a bit.

“Already kinda blew the secret, didn’t I?” Jacob asked.

“I wouldn’t say it was you,” Peter said, glancing back at the group again. “I’d say Sam did that for you. You’re just...filling in the gaps.”

“I dunno,” Jacob drawled. “Can I trust you?”

Absolutely not, but Peter wanted to know this secret. Maybe it would help answer one of the many questions he had in regards to the enigma that was Juno and his family.

“I’m with the Khans, right?” Peter said. “They’ve been raising me alright.”

Jacob laughed and leaned a little closer, his voice pitching downwards. It seemed Peter’s advances were being met well…

“You like scary stories, Rex?”

It seemed to Peter that Juno considered himself a scary story, so this was a good start.

“How scary?” Peter asked.

“You’ll never sleep again,” Jacob promised.

“Now I’m interested,” Peter said with a smile.

“Perfect,” Jacob said with a smile. Peter could already tell he was going to be a good story teller.

They walked up to a beached log and Jacob plopped down, inviting Peter to sit right next to him. He did, and worked to school his expression so it didn’t look like he was taking this too seriously. Jacob certainly wasn’t.

“You’re not from around here, so I’m guessing you don’t know a lot about the legends of my people, the Quileutes?” Jacob asked and Peter shook his head. “There’s lots of them, some of them claiming to date back to the Great Flood--supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark.” He smiled with a shrug to let Peter know he still wasn’t taking all of this seriously. “Another legend claims that we descended from wolves--and that the wolves are our brothers still. It’s against tribal law to kill them.

“And then there are the stories about the  _ cold ones _ .” His voice dropped yet another octave and Peter leaned closer, but carefully schooled his face.

“There are stories about the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land.” He rolled his eyes.

“Your great-grandfather?” Peter encouraged.

“He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf--well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into people, like our ancestors. You could call them werewolves, I guess.”

“Werewolves?” Peter asked. It was a little too fantastical to believe, admittedly. But Peter saw Juno’s bare hands stop a car. And he had a feeling he knew where this was going. The thought sent a strange chill down his spine.

“So, you see,” Jacob continued, “the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather’s time was different. They didn’t hunt the way others of their kind did--they weren’t supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn’t expose them to the rest of the world.”

“If they weren’t dangerous, why…” again, Peter tailed off on purpose, to see where Jacob would take the question.

“There’s always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they’re civilized like this clan claimed they were. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist.” He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into her tone.

“‘Civilized?’” Peter asked. “What were they?”

“I’m getting there,” Jacob said with a wink. “They claimed that they didn’t hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead.”

Peter schooled his voice, keeping it casual but still interested, if only in the story. “So, how does this all fit in with the Aurinkos? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?”

“No…” he paused dramatically. “They are the  _ same _ ones!”

Peter wasn’t sure what expression he made in that moment. He had his suspicions about where this story was going and that final statement just confirmed it. It must have been enough to convince Jacob his story was just as great as he thought. He smiled and continued.

“There are more of them now, four of them I think, but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather’s time, they already knew the leader, Buddy. She’d been here and gone before anyone else got here to claim the land.”

“And what are they?” Peter asked, hoping for an explanation that defied his expectations. “What are the cold ones?”

“Blood drinkers,” he replied in a chilling voice. “You might know them better as vampires.”

And there was the word. Peter allowed himself pause as he looked out at the ocean, churning excitedly with the change of weather. Juno’s insistence that he was some kind of monster would make a lot more sense with this new theory, as far-fetched as it was.

“You’ve got goosebumps,” Jacob said proudly with a delighted laugh.

“You’re a good storyteller,” Peter said, turning to face him.

“Sure,” Jacob snorted. “You’re probably just cold. It’s crazy, though, right? It’s no wonder we’re not allowed to talk about it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” Peter assured, knocking their shoulders together again.

Jacob looked like he wanted to say more, but they both heard two others walking towards them, behind Peter. Jacob saw them first and waved over to them and Peter looked back to see the Kanagawas waving at them.

“There you are!” Cecil cheered. “We’ve been looking all over for you, Rex!”

“What have you two been up to?” Cassandra asked with a smirk as they approached.

“Jacob here was just giving me a thrilling tour of First Beach,” Peter said, sharing a grin with Jacob to assure him more of the secret they now shared. Jacob smiled right back and Peter felt bad once again for using him for information.

“Let me know if you ever need a break again,” Jacob said. “Bring up Ruby anytime you want.”

“I’ll consider it,” Peter assured.

“We’re heading out,” Cecil said, frowning up at the sky. “Rain’s coming and trust me you don’t want to see me or Julian out in the rain.”

“Trust him,” Cassandra said with a scowl. “They’re a nightmare.”

“It was nice to meet you, Rex,” Jacob said and Peter smiled back at him.

“Nice to meet you as well,” Peter said. “If the Khans ever come to visit, I’ll be sure to come with.”

“Awesome,”Jacob said.

Peter nodded back to him as he got up and followed the Kanagawas back to the cars. Already, everyone was nearly fully packed up, so Peter just allowed himself to get ushered into a car and head back to Forks. In the dry safety of the car, Peter watched as the first raindrops started to fall. Jacob had certainly given him a lot to think about. Peter wasn’t sure if he believed it or not...but he had a new theory, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. There was absolutely no one I could think of in the Juno Steel canon that could possibly fit the role of Jacob Black. And in the immortal words of Sophie Takagi Kaner and Kevin Vibert, if you can't hide it, feature it. So here, take a surprise Jacob Black suddenly being faced with bi confusion.
> 
> This chapter was relatively difficult for me to do, mostly because I've done some research into the Quileute tribe and while Stephanie Meyer started with a modicum of truth, she kind of ran away with their stories and did whatever she wanted with them. But at the same time I'm in no place to go about fixing all of the things she got wrong. So a lot of the dialogue from Jacob is almost exactly the same as in the book, especially when he gets to the 'scary story' part.
> 
> All that being said, I'm not doing any of the books past Twilight and Jacob isn't going to really feature anywhere else in this story. I just brought up the idea with my friends and we thought it would be a fun and unexpected twist in the Jupeter Twilight Saga.


	7. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up from a nightmare, but at least the next few days are sunny.

Peter had a nightmare that night. He usually wasn’t one to remember his dreams, especially not very vividly, but something about it stuck with him long into the next day. He blamed it on his overactive imagination after everything that Jacob had said.

Peter was in the woods, that he remembered clearly. He was in a thick section without the safety of a trail, so thick that he couldn’t see anything through the leaves overhead. It was eerie, dark, but at the same time blindingly green. The trees were so thick around him that he couldn’t see anything else around him.

That is, until Juno Steel appeared. He was dressed in a suit, something from the 19th or the 18th century by the look of it, with his mind running wild. He was a picturesque vampire, mouth hanging just slightly open for Peter to see the extended fangs. He was close to Peter, impossibly close, but Peter couldn’t bring himself to step away. It was like he was hypnotized, entranced by the vision that was Juno in front of him.

Juno lifted his hand to Peter’s chin, only just brushing it and tilting it up so that Peter exposed his neck. Peter wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t tear them away from Juno, who was staring right at the flesh of his neck.

And then Juno lunged.

Peter bolted upright after the dream, gasping for breath. It was early in the morning. So early that the sun wasn’t up yet and Peter groaned, knowing he couldn’t get back to sleep. His skin broke out in goosebumps and he shivered. When he allowed himself to filter through his emotions, he couldn’t decide if his emotions were because he was afraid...or excited.

He couldn’t help but shake his head at the thought. Still, his fingers went to trace at the pulse point of his neck as he thought about the dream. About Juno.

Peter shook his head and went for his desk, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep like this. He was itching to do something, anything to get out of his own head, so he started up the internet and waited for it to work. When he got home the night before, he used the excuse of homework to keep his attention elsewhere. He didn’t want to think about it too deeply...but he kept going there in his thoughts anyway.

Peter knew it was ridiculous, to even think this way about Juno Steel, and yet even in dreams he was thinking about it. And Peter had seen himself what Juno was capable of. Juno had managed to sprint across the parking lot in a split second and push a car off of Peter without being seen by anyone else.

There were plenty of other theories Peter had come up with, vampire wasn’t in the least the most outlandish...but combining what he’d seen with this suspiciously specific legend of the Quileutes gave it more validity. Made it more persuasive.

Peter stared at the computer screen in front of him once it booted up. What was he even going to do? Google it? Everyone knew the same things about vampires, including Peter. The  _ Cold Ones _ . They're stronger than humans, faster, inhumanly beautiful, and, most importantly, they're predators. They drink blood to survive. In theory, they were their own brand of monsters.

And then the story Jacob told him...Maybe the Aurinkos didn’t drink human blood to survive. Maybe they were trying to be good guys. That tracked with some of the stuff Juno had been telling him, and yet Peter still couldn’t bring himself to believe it. It was one thing to entertain the idea of a legend, but it was something else entirely to believe it. Peter was certain he couldn’t even say it out loud.

Besides, he’d come all the way to Forks, Washington to get lost, not get trapped in some fairy tale. Was it really worth it to get wrapped up in vampires and werewolves and whatever else might be hiding away in the forest? 

Peter tapped his fingers on the table, still glaring at the computer as if that would help answer any of his questions or make any of his stress go away.

He really didn’t want to, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Juno Steel. The lady fascinated him to no end and while Juno infuriated him, something about him was still good to see every day. Just the idea of going to school tomorrow and seeing him made a thrill go down Peter’s spine. Maybe that was part of the silly vampire appeal or whatever…

It would be in Peter’s best interest to just drop the whole subject and follow Juno’s advice to not talk to him ever again. It would make everything easier in the end. After all, Peter could feel himself getting attached, and he couldn’t afford to get attached to anything or anyone. He needed to be able to disappear. Getting attached to Juno would ruin that.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and cringed. He’d been so hung up on the vampire thing when he got home that he hadn’t bothered to take a shower to get rid of the beach from his skin and hair. He frowned as he looked down at his clothes, which he apparently hadn't even bothered to change out of.

Damn Juno Steel for making him forget about some of the most basic of rituals in his daily routine. Peter groaned, shutting off the computer without even using it. He could address this problem later. For now, he had a shower to take before the rest of the family got up and the line became unbearable.

Peter’s Sunday went painfully slowly. He would attempt to focus on schoolwork, only for his mind to wander over to Dracula. He would try to help with housework only for his neck to start tingling and he became overly conscious of his own blood. It was infuriating. He played it off easily enough when asked, he could always play the ‘thinking of the past’ card when he didn’t want to talk to anyone and even the little ones left him alone. He felt a little bad about abusing that privilege, but it was better than any of the other alternatives.

The day eventually ended, mercifully, and Peter hated that he was excited when he woke up. It was still sunny again outside, and warmer than it had been in the past. He lied to himself that the sun was the reason he was so happy for the day, but it got him up and out of the house quickly enough.

Even after a fight to get the windows on his truck to roll down, he was early to school. He figured he might have gotten a little too excited about...the good weather. With a sigh, Peter set up at a table outside to catch a little sun while he tried to focus on homework. And he tried, honestly. But he kept looking up into the parking lot, waiting for Juno’s car to turn in. And he hated himself for it. 

He was just concerned about this stupid vampire story, that was it. He was going to talk it through with Juno when he saw him and get it all over with. Then everything could return to normal.

“Hey, there, Rexy!” Cecil chimed behind him before perching on the table, his sister following suit soon after. “Don’t you just love it when the sun’s shining for this long? Almost never happens!”

“Yeah, you were starting to look a little pale, there,” Cassandra said with a smirk while Peter closed his work. He hadn’t gotten anything done before they got here and he knew he certainly wouldn’t get any done now that they were.

“I do admit I’ve missed the sun,” Peter said. A lot of people were at school by now, all of them in shorts and T-shirts and soaking in the sun much like him. “I imagine it gets bad here without seeing it for so long?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” Cecil drawled dramatically. “Sometimes we go months without it!”

“Don’t be so dramatic, moron,” Cassandra punched his shoulder and he whined. “It’s more like weeks, anyway.”

“That’s reassuring,” Peter said. Everyone started filing to their classes and he checked his watch. Then he checked the parking lot. It was time to get to class and the Aurinkos weren’t there yet. 

Peter shook his head as he stood up. The Aruinkos weren’t his problem. Juno wasn’t his problem. So what if they were late to school?  So what if he felt a little disappointed that Juno wasn’t there yet? That didn’t matter. Juno just promised him on Thursday that he would see him, that he would stop his stupid disappearing acts.

Peter mentally slapped himself for lingering on it too much. Just...file it away. He just had to file away Juno Steel and focus on the matter at hand.

And the matter at hand was that he needed to do well enough in school that people stopped staring at him so he could disappear. That was it. That was all he was doing in Forks, Washington and that was all he would ever do in Forks, Washington.

Peter still got himself worked up about it, though. He hated to admit it and he would never admit to it out loud, either, but he was distracted. He just had to wait until lunch when he saw Juno once again and then this stupid...obsession could get put behind him. Yes, that was what he would do.

But when he walked into the lunchroom, Juno wasn’t there. None of the Aurinkos were there. Peter tried to ignore the pit that grew in his stomach, he really did. Juno had promised.

“Say, Rex,” Julian said as Peter sat down with his friends. They didn’t say anything about the missing group of teens. Of course they didn’t. No one was paying as much attention to them as Peter was. He was just being ridiculous. “With the winter dance coming up this weekend and everything, the twins and I were thinking it’s about time for us to get our outfits.”

Peter was almost afraid Julian was trying to ask him to the dance again, but he was pleasantly relieved by the rest of the statement. 

“And you want me to go with you?” Peter asked.

“Well, you seem a fashionable fella,” Cecil said. “And you know we can’t be caught dead with anything out of date on us.”

“Besides, you’re more tolerable to be around than these two,” Cassandra said. “Min’s forcing me to go with them and get something nice, so why not make it as easy to deal with as possible?”

“We’re going to Port Angeles,” Julian said. “Tomorrow after school. Are you in?”

Peter allowed himself another glance in the direction of that damn table. The empty table. He needed to get over his...obsession with Juno Steel. The best way to do that was to distract himself with his friends.

“Sure,” Peter said. “I could use some time outside of Forks.”

“Now,” Cecil said, overly dramatic as usual, “Port Angeles isn’t anything special so don’t get your hopes up too high. For the really special stuff like Prom? We go to Seattle.”

“Naturally.”

Come Biology, Juno still wasn’t there. Peter tried to turn his focus to class, and he did the work, making sure to keep note for his lab partner to catch up if he came back. But he wasn’t really paying attention. His gaze kept lingering to the window that showed the outside world. The sun.

It reminded him of better days. Of getting ice cream after a job well done. Of easy days in a park learning how to pickpocket. Of a conversation with a boy on a beach.

Vampires don’t come out in the sun, after all…

The Khans were excited enough about Peter having more plans with his friends. Noor was so thrilled, she gave him some money to spend. Peter didn’t have the heart to tell her that he wasn’t really planning on buying an outfit with the others. His plan was to break away while they tried on their dresses and suits so that he could spend some time in a city. Port Angeles was a small city, but he was a few weeks rusty of some of his skills. He might as well practice them before he went to Seattle to scope it out on the weekend.

It was just as sunny the next day. A pleasant day. The Aurinkos were absent once again and Peter’s imagination was starting to run even wilder than before. But it made things easy for him not to see Juno again. Kept his focus on the matter at hand. He had a plan to ditch his group in Port Angeles and he had some ideas as to what to get up to. Just a little theft to get his muscles working.

He had a few bigger jobs in mind for Seattle (some research he was already compiling) but he wanted to make sure he was practiced enough to do it. It simply wouldn’t do to let his skills get rusty.

After school, Julian followed him home so that they could leave Ruby behind (damn her poor mileage) and then they were off with Forks behind them. Peter just hoped he could leave all of that baggage with Juno with it. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, not even while practicing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for everyone who's reading and commenting! It means the world to me! Hope you're still enjoying!


	8. Port Angeles/Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets lost in Port Angeles, and then has a long, enlightening conversation with Juno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm combining two chapters that were separate in the original because they were badly split up in the first place. So super long chapter this time boyssss.
> 
> Also, I had no way of knowing that, weeks into posting this thing, Midnight Sun would be dropped. The Twilight renaissance rises in power with each passing day and I live in fear of it to this day. I will never have rest.

Peter didn’t mind shopping. It was very strange, he had to admit, having actual money in a store to actually buy things. He still found himself scouting out all the locations of the store cameras (of which there was one) and the security guards (of which there were none) and the various employees (of which there were two), just out of reflex. He noted which people would be easy to manipulate in the moment, who would take a little time, and who weren’t worth the effort. And with the extravagant, loud people he was with he knew there would be a lot of attention centered on them. He almost got giddy with the challenge. 

To alleviate suspicion with his friends, he stayed close to them for a while. Port Angeles was not a large city by any means and Cecil, Cassandra, and Julian were all positive the store they were at was the only one worth their time. So he sat back and offered his advice when prompted and considered what he could flex his fingers on. It had been so long, but stealing from a place like this wasn’t going to be hard at all. He considered the jewelry out on display for a real challenge or a rather fetching dress tucked in the corner for something easy.

“But does it have enough  _ pop _ ?” Cecil asked, twirling in various directions in front of the mirror where Peter was sitting to observe his friends. “What’s the point of dressing up if you aren’t doing your most, right?”

“Of course,” Peter said, spying a pair of rather beautiful heels just around Cecil. Those would be good, but he hadn’t dressed to steal something so large…

“Maybe you should go for even more blinding,” Cassandra goaded from her changing room. “That way it’ll be even harder to look at your face.”

“But you love looking at our face in the mirror every morning,” Cecil teased in turn and actually picked up the heels Peter had been looking at. “What do you think, Rex?”

“I think…” Peter considered his words carefully, “a dress like that would require a good bit of jewelry.”

“Oh, you’re right,” Cecil said, staring deeply in the mirror now. “But Daddy didn’t give me enough money for new clothes  _ and  _ jewelry…”

“And you wouldn’t want to be caught at a dance wearing jewels you’ve worn before,” Peter said.

“What would I do without you, Rex?” Cecil asked, darting back to the changing room once again. “I’m gonna try on that suit again.”

“The one with the long lapels?” Peter asked, feigning interest. Now that he was alone in the room, he got up and deftly picked up some earrings that kept catching his eye. A quick glance proved that he wasn’t in sight of the camera or anyone else in the store, so he pocketed them.

“No, no, the one with the flower print.”

“Oh, of course,” Peter said, now strolling over to the changing rooms.

“Rex, could you help me with this zipper?” Julian asked and Peter honestly did not want to, so he moved his plan into action.

“Actually,” Peter mused, “I have a list of things Noor wanted me to pick up while I was out here. Would you all mind if I darted out to do some errands? I can meet you for dinner.”

“Already running away, huh?” Cassandra asked with a smug smile as she got out of the changing room, wearing another nearly identical red dress. She’d tried on 5 and was looking for something Peter honestly couldn’t figure out, but hopefully she was finally happy. “I can’t blame you.”

“But Rex,” Cecil whined, “what’ll I do without you?”

“Julian can handle you just fine, I’m sure,” Peter said.

“Go ahead,” Cassandra said, nodding to the door. “Get out of here while you can. I’ll do damage control.”

“Many thanks, Cass,” Peter nodded before heading to the door with a nod to the cashier. In moments, he was out in the cold and finally alone in a city. Well, more of a large town, if he was being honest with himself. His fingers were itching now that they’d gotten their first taste of theft in months and he was eager to keep going. Partly to prove to himself that he could still do it and partly because he just liked it. The tourists in this town weren’t his usual stuck-up clientele, but they would do. He managed to pick up a wallet before he was even ten steps away from the store.

Port Angeles proved to be mostly uninteresting. He picked up a few things in various stores for the sake of appearances with his friends, but other than that just relished in the anonymity. No one here recognized him and it made him a little giddy. He could finally disappear here. He felt completely smothered in Forks, prying eyes on him every second of the day, but here he was just another person on the street, hardly anyone to look twice at unless he wanted them to.

He allowed himself to get a little distracted by it, honestly. He stretched muscles he’d allowed to atrophy and it felt amazing. He didn’t even pay attention to the time until the sun started setting. When he saw it, he inwardly cursed himself. He knew where the restaurant was that he was meeting his friends and it was a fair bit away. He didn’t want them worrying about him, or worse looking for him. He needed to be non-memorable, and getting lost in a city turned into a story to tell everyone in town.

Thumbing at a knife up his sleeve, he ducked into an alley in hopes of spotting a shortcut. Which, to Peter’s credit, he did, it just happened to be directly past a group of people very obviously in the middle of a drug deal. Cursing his luck as all of the people involved turned their gaze to him, Peter started walking. He thanked his long legs for allowing him to go pretty fast with minimal effort. If he looked like he was running away, these people would view it as a problem. Already, he was a liability and a small city like this, the same people got in trouble frequently and couldn’t afford to keep getting into it. 

When he knew his arm was out of their sight, he got his knife in his hand. If he was lucky, they would think he wasn’t going to be a problem, and move on with their lives, but it was good to prepare for the worst. He’d dealt with far worse people in Phoenix, in larger groups, with bigger weapons. This would be a piece of cake.

Peter did manage to make it through the alley without incident, but the damn thing let him out onto an empty street and the sun was setting far too fast for his liking. And someone was following him. They weren’t very good at it, very obvious and much too close. It wasn’t meant to be stealthy, then. It was meant to scare Peter. Thumbing at his knife, Peter kept moving. He’d memorized the map of this city a few weeks ago, when he’d finished homework and had nothing else to do with his computer. He memorized a few cities around. He never knew which cities he would have to hop between once he made his move. So he knew for a fact that the restaurant was a few blocks away. Up ahead, he saw an intersection with a much busier section of the city. If he could just make it to that street, he would be fine and could avoid any confrontation. Dealing with any of these people would be much more effort than they were worth. He really didn’t want to have to explain any of this to Khan.

Sadly, as Peter kept walking, he saw another person from the drug deal pop up from an alley in front of him. And another one on the other side of the street, not familiar but dressed just like these guys. Probably a friend. Just great...They did want a confrontation.

Peter steeled himself, gripping onto his knife tightly. He was out of practice with this as well. Sure, he would do some knife tricks in his room, but nothing like combat. Admittedly, the thought of breaking skin with a blade made his stomach lurch and bits of unwelcome memories peeked out, but he would do what he had to. He could file away those thoughts until he could better handle them. For now, he had to focus on the matter at hand. He readied his other hand to get another knife.

“Hey there, pretty boy,” the man in front of him said, his voice leaving absolutely none of his intentions to Peter’s imagination. “You didn’t see anything back there, right?”

“Absolutely not,” Peter said easily. He had an eye on a route he could try to take between these people if he was lucky and they had bad reflexes, but they were already walking to block his path. Peter set his jaw. So they wanted to fight that badly, did they?

“And you’re not a snitch, are you?” the guy behind him asked. He was far too close for comfort, but Peter couldn’t get further away from him without running and that would definitely get these guys going. Peter needed the element of surprise to get far with three of them. At least the two in front of him had pistols on them, plus other weapons they could be hiding in their coats. Peter could throw a knife easily enough to disarm one of them and lunge at a second, but the third would prove to be a problem. There weren’t a whole lot of places to disappear to in this alley.

“Of course not,” Peter said, keeping his voice easy.

“Well, you know, there’s a few ways to make sure,” the first man said. He raked his eyes up and down Peter’s body and Peter knew immediately who he would go for first. He was already preparing to throw his knife, full preparation be damned, when he heard the squeal of tires behind him and saw the bright lights of a car.

The men surrounding him stepped quickly out of the way while the car, a startingly familiar Volvo, swerved, drifted, and stopped between Peter and these men. The passenger door wound up directly in front of Peter after all that and the window rolled down, revealing the very angry face of Juno Steel.

“Get in.”

Peter didn’t need a second invitation and quickly jumped into the car. Juno didn’t even wait for him to close the door before he sped off, his tires squealing under them. Peter had to blink a few times before really registering what had just happened, tucking his knife back into his sleeve.

“What the hell were you thinking, Rex?” Juno snapped at him, lurching onto another street and Peter buckled if only to deal with Juno’s erratic driving. “Do you have any idea what those guys were thinking about doing to you?”

“I have a pretty good idea, Juno,” Peter said. Of course Juno was phrasing this like it was Peter’s fault. “How did you even know where I was?”

“I had a feeling bad news would wind up finding you again,” Juno said, turning sharply onto another street. Peter had no idea how he was managing to be so reckless in a city street without hitting anything. His reflexes were so fast.

“You make it sound like I go looking for it,” Peter scoffed. He wasn’t in trouble all that often. It just so happened that he was in trouble whenever Juno was around to see it. “You didn’t answer my question, Juno.”

“They were going to kill you, you know,” Juno said, grinding his teeth and Peter furrowed his brow, staring at him. “Their thoughts were so loud, I could hear them blocks away. You’re not invincible, you know. Just because you keep narrowly surviving doesn’t mean you’re not immune.”

“Juno, their thoughts?” Peter pressed. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now,” Juno said, glaring over at Peter. “You keep getting yourself into dangerous situations you have no way out of.”

“Regardless of what you may think, Juno, I can handle myself just fine. I don’t need your help.”

“Like you would’ve been fine in the car crash?”

“That wasn’t my fault! None of this is my fault. Walking around in the dark doesn’t make this my fault. You should know better than that.”

Juno visibly calmed down there, guilt lacing his eyes as the speed noticeably slowed as well. “I know, I know. I just...Dammit, you scared me, Rex.”

Peter met his eye for a second before Juno turned his gaze back to the street and Peter believed him. Juno’s eyes were dark as well, and it took weeks to notice, but Juno was always more irritable when his eyes were dark. It certainly didn’t excuse his behavior, but it did explain it.

“I can handle myself, Juno,” Peter said again. “I don’t always need a rescue.”

Finally, Juno parked and Peter only just noticed that they’d somehow wound their way right to the restaurant he was meeting Cassandra, Cecil, and Julian. Before Peter could even ask how Juno knew, he saw his friends walking out of the restaurant. Juno ducked his head, seemingly out of embarrassment, just as the group noticed them. Peter sighed and opened up the car door to get this conversation over with.

“Rex! There you are!” Cecil all but ran up to him.

“We wanted to wait for you,” Cassandra tried, but Julian quickly let him know their priorities.

“But we were starving, so we ate already. What took you so long?”

Almost on cue, the three of them looked over to Juno, who was stepping out of the car and nodding to them.

“Juno?” Cecil asked, almost bursting with excitement but also trying to play it cool and desperately failing at it.

“Do you guys mind if I steal Rex for the night?” Juno asked, surprising Peter thoroughly. He was almost sure his jaw dropped. “I’m a little hungry, too, might as well make sure he doesn’t go without dinner.”

Cassandra snorted. “Sure, go for it.” She gave Peter a look like she was doing him a favor and Peter nearly protested, but he definitely wanted to take advantage of any time with the enigma that was Juno Steel. Besides, Peter needed an answer from Juno. He’d promised he would see Peter at school and hadn’t come around in a few days, after all.

“You’ll have to tell us all about your day tomorrow, Rex,” Julian said with a wink.

“See you later, then,” Cecil said, and the three went their own way.

“Well, lucky me,” Peter said, turning back to Juno, who looked up at the restaurant.

“This place good for you?” Juno asked. “I’m not very picky.”

Peter just nodded and Juno walked ahead of him to go inside, Peter hot on his heels. He played off as patient as he could while he was buzzing inside, either from the left over adrenaline or the very idea of alone time with Juno Steel that wouldn’t end with the sound of a school bell. Once inside, all it took was Juno to look at the host with that face of his, bat those eyes and say a few words and they were seated in the most remote part of the restaurant. 

“Where were you?” Peter decided to ask before Juno could steer the conversation wherever he wanted.

“What do you mean?” Juno asked.

“I think I recall a promise you made to me,” Peter said.

“Right, yeah, I-I’m sorry,” Juno said. “I got caught up in that hunting trip, we couldn’t make it back until today, after school was over.” For someone who lied so much, he wasn’t all that good at it. Peter could see his tells. That little stutter in his voice, his eyes would dart away, he’d duck his head down a little. And he’d finish it off with that lilting smile, hoping his good looks and charisma could carry him through the lie.

“Well, as long as you had a good reason, I suppose,” Peter mused as the waitress came by and gave them their drinks before darting away. He matched Juno’s eyes as he spoke, hoping he got his real meaning across.

“So…” Juno drawled. He hadn’t even picked up the menu, let alone cast it a cursory glance. Peter absently looked through it, not very hungry. “You sure you’re okay?”

“After what, the alley?” Peter scoffed. “I’ve lived through much worse, trust me, Juno.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re fine,” Juno said.

“Mind telling me how you found me?” Peter asked. “Is it something to do with this...mind reading thing you talked about?”

Juno hesitated for a second before nodding reluctantly. “Yeah, that’s how I found you.”

“Mind reading?” Peter asked, hoping Juno would supply an actual answer this time, though doubting it considering their track record.

“Mind reading,” Juno said with a small laugh. “Sounds a little weird just saying it, yeah. Doesn’t look like that weirds you out.”

“Well, it’s not the strangest phrase to pop up around you,” Peter said.

“You don’t need proof?” Juno asked.

“Let’s say I believe it for now,” Peter said. “And we’ll get to really believing it later.”

Juno laughed. “I’ll take that. Yeah, I, uh...it’s gonna sound weirder than it is. There’s something about you and all the shit you run into that makes me think your number’s up. You should’ve been hit by that car. You should’ve been stabbed in that alley.”

“And yet you come swinging in to save me like a hero,” Peter said. “Does this mean you followed me?”

“I...might have,” Juno said. “I kept trying to talk myself out of it, but at the same time, the thing in the alley.”

“Regardless of if you think my number is up,” Peter interrupted him before he could go any further, “I could have handled myself in that alley.”

Juno eyed him up and down and gave him a look that said he didn’t really believe him. Peter had half a mind to pull a knife on him for that reason, but quickly remembered the mind reading. But Juno didn’t seem to respond.

“You can’t read my mind,” Peter said. And that made sense. The way Juno talked to people, it was almost like he could see what they were thinking. He could guess what all of their responses were and he always knew how to stay on top of the conversation. But with Peter, he always had that frustrated look on his face, like Peter was something he couldn’t read.

“No, I can’t,” Juno spoke like admitting it hurt him. “It’s....Gods, it’s infuriating. Especially with that stupid, fakey name you have going on. Don’t look at me like that. No one’s real name is Rex fucking Glass. You walk around town all...brooding and mysterious-”

“Which you had capital on before,” Peter supplied.

“Whatever,” Juno scoffed, but with a small smile. “Anyway, no, I can’t read your thoughts. It makes following you real hard when you ditch your friends. I had to...peek into other people’s minds to see if they caught sight of you but you’re pretty talented in disappearances. I can tell you’re doing it on purpose, but you’re hard to notice. By the time I heard those guys in the alley, I got nervous. You know how calm a town like this is? You’d be their first big crime in a decade.”

“I would be honored,” Peter said. “I didn’t mean to get so sidetracked.”

“Did you mean to steal that wallet?” Juno asked. “Or the earrings? Or that bracelet?”

Peter chuckled. “I guess I am getting rusty.” He took a swig of the water while Juno stared at him with those intense eyes.

The waitress came over and asked them for their order. Peter mindlessly rattled off the first thing his eyes landed on and Juno said he wasn’t hungry. Juno kept staring at him, even after the waitress left.

“Does it bother you?” Peter asked.

“Who are you?” Juno asked.

“I have the same question rattling in my mind about you,” Peter offered.

“How about this? Question for question, we each answer something,” Juno said.

“Will you be honest?” Peter asked.

“Will you?”

“Have I ever lied to you, Juno? Aside from my name, of course.”

Juno thought for a moment. “Not that I know of.”

“Me first, then,” Peter said. “Does it bother you that I stole those things?”

“Not as much as it bothers me that you know how,” Juno said. “Don’t worry, I don’t think those people  _ really _ saw it, you were pretty smooth about it. I only noticed you because I was looking for you. How did you learn how to do that?”

“My first...adoptive father,” Peter said. He was pretty sure Mag wasn’t official, but the impact mattered enough. “Mag. He taught me a lot of things. Why does it bother you that I know how to steal?”

“Because you shouldn’t need to,” Juno answered gruffly. “Laws or whatever the hell be damned, you shouldn’t know how to steal like that. Stealing like that means you did it to survive, not just for fun.”

“And how do you know that?” Peter asked, hoping Juno wouldn’t notice two questions in a row, he was just so curious.

Juno breathed out through his nose. “Because I did, too, alright? When your mom’s as useless at taking care of you as mine was, you gotta learn to pick up a few things.”

“Juno, I…” Peter hesitated. Because he knew what was on the tip of his tongue. An apology. Like that would help anything. People would hear a sob story and slap ‘I’m sorry’ around like a band-aid and move on, but it never did anything. Peter had heard it quite a few times in his life, from people he was trying to rob, from people who were trying to save him, from the people who found the mess he’d left behind after Mag…

“So, now I get two questions, right?” Juno asked, batting away Peter’s slip up without so much as a second thought. He probably heard it just as much as Peter did.

“I suppose.”

“What is your real name?”

“A name? Is that what you want?” Peter laughed. “I suppose I thought you were more clever than that. The real, honest answer is that I don’t have one. Well, that’s not entirely correct. I’m sure I had one when I was born, but I never knew it. But if you want to know what I was called before I came here...Peter.”

“And that’s it? No last name? Nothing?” 

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t know that,” Peter admitted. “For now. My name links me to things better left...forgotten. I hope you’ll understand that?”

Juno met his eyes for a long moment, searing and searching but also kind and soft. Eventually, he backed away with a nod. In that moment, Peter’s food arrived and the waitress asked once again if Juno was sure about not eating, and Juno waved her away without a word. Peter honestly didn’t have any intention of eating, so he continued with the questions.

“So, now that we’re getting to hard questions, who are you, Juno Steel?”

“Right now? I’m someone who wants to make sure you eat something,” Juno said, eyeing Peter’s plate. “Regardless of if you’ve seen this kind of shit before, shock’ll set in quick if you don’t do the right stuff. Eat.”

“I’m fine, Juno,” Peter said dismissively. “I’m not about to go into shock over a few men who thought I was an easy target.”

“No offense, but you kinda are.”

“And what about me has told you that? You don’t know a lot about me, but I can assure you that those thugs wouldn’t have been a problem for me.”

“You need to stop acting like you’re invincible. It’s gonna get you killed one day.”

“By your estimations, it seems my number is up,” Peter said before finally addressing his food. If Juno wasn’t going to let it go, he was a little hungry, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he ate a little. “No matter how I act, trouble is going to find me, isn’t it?”

“Doesn’t sound like that bothers you much.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t. If I’m to die anyway, I might as well die living life to the fullest.” Peter ate a bite of food and when Juno wasn’t about to speak again, Peter nodded to him. “I think it’s your question now?”

“What do you think I am?” Juno asked, voice even. “You said mind reading isn’t the weirdest phrase to pop up around me. Hit me with the weirdest.”

Peter studied him for a moment. Juno wasn’t really angry anymore. Sure, he cared for Peter for...some reason. But he wasn’t closed off, either. He was open, like he wanted Peter to guess and be right. But saying it out loud felt...Saying it out loud made it real.

“I’m not sure you want to hear it,” Peter said evasively.

“Lead up to it,” Juno offered. “See if that helps.” He had that smirk on his face again as he took a sip of the water he hadn’t touched yet, likely just to have something to do. He was back to playing with Peter, because that was more fun than talking about Peter’s impending doom, apparently.

Peter let out a long sigh. It seemed there was no getting out of this with Juno's eyes boring right into his soul.

“Well, I’ve never seen you eat,” Peter said, motioning to the mostly empty table in front of Juno. “You only drink when it’s convenient for how you’re talking, like it’s an old habit you haven’t shaken yet. Your eyes change whenever you go missing for a while. They’re lighter right when you get back and darker right before you leave. For some reason, they’re darker now so your hunting probably didn’t go so well.”

“You’ve noticed that?” Juno asked.

“I can’t help but notice a lot of things about you,” Peter said and Juno finally looked away from his eyes. “You can’t blush, even when you should.” Now Juno’s eyes were back on him and Peter smirked. “You are faster and stronger than any human I’ve ever seen.”

“So, what am I?” Juno pressed.

Peter decided to deflect for a little longer. “I talked with your friends at La Push. They had quite a few interesting stories about you as well.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“I heard a story about the Cold Ones,” Peter continued. “It talked about these creatures that came to their lands a long time ago. And how these Cold Ones that came a long time ago are the same ones that take their names today. The Aurinkos. Were you with them when they met the Quilettes?” 

“I wasn’t, no,” Juno said. “You’re still avoiding the question. What are the Cold Ones?”

Peter let out a long sigh. There really was no avoiding it now. He glanced at the other patrons at the restaurant, and they were all far enough away that they would never hear this conversation. No one would hear it but Peter and Juno, alone at this table.

“Vampires,” Peter said, looking back at Juno, who was looking at him more intensely now. It wasn’t a guessing game anymore with the word in between them. No matter how ridiculous it was, no matter how much Juno tried to tease it out of them, it was a real word now. With real consequences.

“You know what that means, right?” Juno asked.

“Does that mean werewolves are also real?” Peter asked, trying to be playful, but Juno had lost all of his playfulness.

“Peter,” Juno said and Peter felt a zing of electricity shoot through his spine at the sound of his real first name coming from Juno’s mouth.

“What do you want from me, Juno?” Peter asked. “Fear? Arousal? Anger? You won’t be getting those from me.”

“And why not? To you, it’s just stories, yeah, but this shit is real. If I wanted, I could kill everyone in this room before anyone had a chance to fight back. Hell, even if you did, you couldn’t do anything to hurt me.”

“Is that how you see yourself, Juno?”

“It’s how the world should see me, yeah.”

“That’s not how I see you.” Peter leaned forward against the table. “You said it yourself: if you wanted to. But you don’t want to.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I think I have an idea. Vampires, blood. You don’t strike me as the kind of person to  _ want _ anything to do with a lifestyle that kills things. But you need to do it. You don’t  _ want _ to have the ability to kill people with...whatever vampire abilities are real, mind reading being one of them. But you don’t need to use them. You don’t scare me, Juno.”

“I should.” Juno glared at him before backing down and staring at the table. “You’re either dumber than I thought, or you’ve got a death wish.”

“Perhaps it’s both,” Peter said. “My number is up, isn’t it?”

“Your number was up the second I met you,” Juno said, shaking his head.

“Oh, so now I get an explanation as to our first meeting?” Peter asked. “I’ve been hoping for one.”

Juno looked up at him sheepishly. “I told you I was sorry.”

“And I said I don’t want an apology,” Peter said. “An explanation, though, would be greatly appreciated.”

Juno drummed his fingers against the table, thinking through his answer.

“Your...smell,” Juno finally admitted. “It’s...Look, I’ve been alive for about 60 years, give or take. I’ve been a vampire for most of them. Your senses are heightened because you become a heightened predator. You can  _ smell _ people, more specifically their blood. I’ve gotten pretty good at resisting the temptation. But the second I smelled your blood...it was the most delicious thing I have ever smelled. I don’t know what it is about you, if you were sent here to torture me or whatever, but I damn near jumped you the first moment I smelled you.”

“Juno, I’m flattered,” Peter said with a smirk and Juno stared up at him.

“It’s not really a laughing matter,” Juno pressed. “I can barely control myself around you.”

“And yet you continue to spend time around me.”

“Because you infuriate me. Because you’re the kind of person who is faced with something that can and will kill you in the blink of an eye and all you do is flirt harder.”

Peter smirked. “So, tell me more, I’m fascinated.”

“More about what?”

“You’re kidding. You are one of the most inquisitive people I know and you’re telling me in the same situation, you wouldn’t immediately have a million questions?”

Juno stared at him for a few more moments before he let out a disappointed sigh. “Fine, what do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Peter said.

“You have to eat, though,” Juno said, staring at Peter’s mostly untouched food.

“Still worried about shock?” Peter asked.

“Just eat, while I can’t.”

Peter put his hands up in surrender before he started back on his food, looking at Juno expectantly.

“Well, first thing’s first is not everyone can do what I can,” Juno started. “All vampires are a little different. It depends on how well you take to the venom. And only a rare few of us get...added abilities. Everyone’s got the typical stuff to make us an ideal predator. Speed, strength, agility, increased senses. The fangs.”

“Please tell me they’re retractable,” Peter said and Juno rolled his eyes. “What? I’m just curious.”

“Yes.”

“And sunlight?”

“A myth,” Juno said. “We can go out in sunlight, there’s just…well, I’ll show you some other time, when the sun is out. If you see one of us in the sun, it’s obvious what we are. That’s why we couldn’t be around the last few days, the sun’s been out.”

“I’m excited. So, mind reading?”

“I’m the only one I know of that can do it. It’s a unique ability. Buddy thinks it’s got something to do with what kind of people we were in life or whatever. I had a pretty good intuition that I could rely on when shit got tough. So I guess I got an added bonus. Rita was always good with people’s emotions and now she can...control them, I guess? Suggest them? Alessandra I guess was just always buff, she’s stronger than anyone I’ve seen. And Sasha...I don’t know what kind of person she was before this, she’s always been secretive. But she can see things that haven’t happened yet.”

“And does my smell fascinate them?” Peter asked.

“Not as much as me, but more than the normal human,” Juno said.

“How old are you, exactly?”

“Sixty-seven.”

Peter considered that for a moment.

“The forties, then?” Peter mused.

“Yeah,” Juno said, and it didn’t look like he was about to elaborate on his past, so Peter decided not to press. “Any other questions?”

“Oh, plenty,” Peter said. “But I think we have time.”

“You really do have a death wish if you’re considering staying around me.”

“Well, I still have a car ride to live through to get back to Forks, don’t I?”

“That you do,” Juno said, looking at his plate. “You done? We should be heading back, don’t want Khan getting worried about you.”

“Let’s go, then,” Peter said with a nod.

Juno stood up and dropped a single bill on the table. “This should be enough.” Peter looked closer and saw that it was a hundred dollar bill and Juno didn’t look like he was waiting around for a tip.

“And this is...normal for you?” Peter asked, standing up as well.

“They could use it a whole lot more than I could,” Juno said. “Actually... This place is pretty slow tonight, you’re right, I can do better.”

He dropped another bill before heading towards the door. Peter fought the urge to take the bills as they left, settling with the fact that he could attempt to pick Juno’s pocket and get a little more. That would certainly be good practice, stealing from a vampire.

“Is that...Buddy’s money?” Peter asked curiously as they stepped outside and towards Juno’s car.

“Yeah, she said she got rich doing some scam or something a while ago,” Juno said. “I kind of stop paying attention to the details because then she goes on for hours about Vespa and their love and it’s…”

“Not one for romantic stories?” Peter teased.

“I don’t know, if you live as long as I have you begin to really question the whole love shtick,” Juno said. “Then again, Buddy’s been around a lot longer than I have, so who am I to say anything?”

“And how old is she?”

“I dunno. She told me she stopped keeping track after 300, but I'm not sure how much of that was a joke.”

Peter thought about that while he stepped to the passenger side of Juno’s car. Juno looked about as normal as someone like him could get. He was brooding, sure, and depressed, but he was awkward and petulant. He wasn’t some perfect, immortal creature. He had scars. And that part fascinated Peter more than anything else. Juno and his whole family were just that, a family. A strange, immortal family, but still a family.

“Do I get to meet the rest of your family?” Peter asked. Juno opened up the car door and climbed in without answering, so Peter ducked in after him. “Juno, please tell me I get to meet the rest of your family.”

“It’s complicated,” Juno said.

“Please tell me more,” Peter said. Juno nodded to the seat belt and Peter rolled his eyes before doing it up, noting how Juno didn’t bother with it before speeding out of the parking lot at a terrifying speed.

“We need to stay a secret,” Juno said. “Not everyone’s gonna react to a family of vampires like you. And, well, you knowing complicates things. A lot of them don’t trust you, hell, a lot of them just don’t like you.”

“I’m sure if you give me some time I might win them over,” Peter said.

“Yeah, it’s that attitude that’s making them not like you,” Juno said, eyeing him out of the corner of his eye. Peter frowned. “Jet and Vespa especially can’t stand you and they’ve barely met you.”

“Well, Vespa seemed perfectly cordial at the hospital,” Peter said, trying not to pout.

“That was before you were that big of a risk of exposing us. Now that you definitely know...Things are gonna be complicated.”

“And you told me anyway.”

“Technically, you figured it out.”

“Because none of you are very stealthy about it,” Peter noted. “I’m sure vampire is a rumor that’s running around the school since you all scurry off the second the sun comes out.”

“A rumor’s one thing. You’ve got actual proof now, don’t you?”

“Not anything definitive.” Peter decided to take a chance and lean closer to Juno, as much as he could comfortably with the seat belt. “So, what do we do now that I know?”

“We’ll have to see,” Juno said, eyeing Peter out of the corner of his eye. Peter noticed that they were already back on the highway, easily climbing to 90 miles per hour. “That’s not safe, you know, you should get back in your seat.”

“You should put a seat belt on then, too,” Peter said.

Juno laughed then, a real, light lilt that Peter would have found charming if it didn’t come from a place of carelessness. Sure, he was a vampire and might not be harmed by anything physical, but it was still unnerving.

There was a short silence where Peter was left to his own thoughts, but one thing kept popping into his head. He’d heard Khan talking to Noor at night when he thought all the kids were asleep about these attacks going on around town. Wolves, he called them. People with bites around their bodies, something strong ripping them apart.

“How do you feed?” Peter blurted out randomly and Juno glanced at him once again. “Those people around town that are being attacked, is that your family?”

“What? No, of course not,” Juno said, sounding genuinely offended. “That’s...We don’t know who that is, but they are like us. Vampires. We’ve been trying to track them down and get them out of our...territory.”

“Your territory?” Peter asked.

“The Forks area is under our protection, essentially. It’s a...coven thingy. Buddy’s better at the politics game than I am. I just know the borders. No one should be hunting here.”

“Except you.”

“We don’t…” Juno let out a breath that he didn’t need. “We don’t drink from humans, if that’s what you’re asking. When I say I go hunting for deer, that’s literally what we do. We call it...vegetarian, as a joke. Vampires can live as long as we have blood, but it doesn’t have to be human blood. Human blood makes us stronger, but we can live off of animals.”

“Animals,” Peter mused. “Fascinating.”

“Doesn’t mean we don’t  _ want _ human blood,” Juno said. “It’s definitely an urge, but it’s something we learn to fight. We want to live with humans, that’s the whole point.”

“But there are other vampires in Forks?”

“Yeah,” Juno said. “And with your track record, you’re gonna have to be careful. It’s hard to track these guys, I think they’ve got experience, so they could be anywhere. Watch your step.”

“I guess you’ll just have to stick close to protect me,” Peter said.

They got back to Forks fast. Too fast. One downside to Juno’s terrifying driving. There wasn’t enough time.

“You’ll be at school tomorrow, won’t you?” Peter asked.

“Sasha says the clouds should be back,” Juno said. “I think so.”

“No more avoidance tactics?” Peter asked. “You’ll actually talk to me, without the whole ‘you shouldn’t be near me’ thing?”

“I mean, you shouldn’t be near me,” Juno said. They pulled up to Khan’s house and Peter knew he’d have to get out fast or else Khan might notice that this wasn’t Cecil and Cassandra’s car.

“Promise me,” Peter said.

Juno sighed. “Fine, I promise. Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Peter said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I have more questions for you.”

“I can’t wait,” Juno said.

Peter immediately regretted getting out of the car. He hadn’t noticed how hot Juno had cranked the heat, but it was freezing out there, and starting to rain. He ducked to the front porch, and by the time he looked back, Juno was gone. Peter couldn’t help but smile as he ducked inside, immediately bombarded by kids asking how his day was. Noor and Khan both stepped out of the kitchen with relieved looks on their faces, like they were still afraid Peter was going to run, but he hadn’t.

He excused himself upstairs with the excuse of homework and having already ate. When he closed his door, all he could do was lean against it, staring up at the ceiling. His mind was running at a million miles an hour, trying to figure out what all of this meant.

Juno was a vampire, there was no going around that. He was a perfect predator, could easily kill Peter without breaking a sweat. That shouldn’t send a thrill down Peter’s spine, and yet it did. Juno’s family hated him, and that definitely felt like a challenge he was excited to take up. It was dangerous, yes, but all the things worth doing were.

And then there was the fact that Juno now knew Peter’s name. At least, his first name. And Peter remembered the way his stomach did flips when Juno had used it. He’d opened up more to Juno than he had the Khans. Mag would scold him for getting too close to a mark. After all, this whole town was a mark and the con was just getting him as far away from Phoenix as possible. Peter was allowing himself to get distracted from his mission, to disappear as soon as possible. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. Mag be damned, he was having  _ fun _ .

And he liked Juno.

Peter paused, that realization hitting him in bits. He  _ liked _ Juno. Just being around Juno gave him a kick to his adrenaline, made him smile and made him forget about what he was really doing here. Juno was charming entirely on accident and unpleasant except when he was really trying and Peter was...well, he was falling. When Peter allowed himself to think about his future for a bit, he got hung up. He thought about leaving Juno behind and his stomach dropped.

He was attached.

No, that wasn’t right.

He might just be falling in love.

…

Oh, if Mag were alive, he’d kill Peter for acting like such a rookie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed this chapter, their banter was a lot of fun to write, and I spent a really long time working on it. There's really not a good stopping point anywhere in here to split the chapter and where smeyer splits it really isn't a good place, so here we are, super long chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!


	9. Interrogations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Juno have a few conversations, and Cecil demands to know what happened at Port Angeles.

When Peter left the house the next day, he found himself stopped short at the sight of Juno’s Volvo next to his truck. Noor had left a few minutes ago, so Peter was alone and he let that thrill him a little before walking up to the car. He was still confronting whatever his emotions were, but he was also never one to deny himself some fun.

“Wanna ride with me today?” Juno asked from the unrolled window.

“Is there something wrong with my truck?” Peter asked.

“Nothing,” Juno said. “Much.”

“Ruby is a fine lady,” Peter huffed, but still climbed into that now familiar Volvo.

“She’s a monster is what she is,” Juno scoffed.

“You’re just jealous because she’s more of a lady than you ever will be,” Peter teased.

“I’m enough of a lady when I need to be,” Juno said, pulling out and speeding his way off to school.

“Is there a reason you’re picking me up for school now?” Peter asked.

“Would you believe I don’t trust you to drive?” Juno asked.

“No,” Peter said. “But I’ll trust you just wanted to see me again.”

Juno smirked, but didn’t respond, so Peter rolled his eyes, hoping Juno would see it with his...special eyes, or whatever. He looked out the window. It wasn’t raining anymore, but the clouds were still out. He missed the sun, of course, but he couldn’t help but wonder what he would prefer; the sun or Juno’s company? When did he become such a sap?

“What are you thinking about?” Juno asked eventually and Peter smirked, turning back to him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Now that’s annoying,” Juno said. Already, they were turning into the parking lot. Juno really did like to speed, didn’t he? Certainly got them places faster, but it took all the joy out of long car rides. 

“You can’t get everything you want, Juno,” Peter said. “And I’m going to keep my thoughts to myself for as long as possible.”

Juno pulled them into a parking spot before climbing out of the car. Peter followed shortly after. They were pretty early with Juno’s driving, but it still didn’t feel like enough time with Juno.

“So, why go to school?” Peter asked. “You’re an immortal creature of the night, right? Why bother?”

Juno smiled slightly at himself before looking over Peter. “It feels normal, I guess. When I was a kid...I wanted more than anything to get me and Ben into school, but Ma couldn’t afford to not have us working, and we were too busy trying to stay alive. Plus the war...made things complicated. And like you said, I’m an immortal creature of the night, but I’ve still got the brain of a person. I can’t just stick with my family for the rest of my life, we’ll drive each other nuts in no time flat. I dunno, when everything in your life’s weird as shit, a little normal goes a long way. Why are you in school, ‘Rex’?”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh at Juno’s emphasis on his fake name. “To look normal, I suppose. I want everyone to stop looking at me like I’m about to bolt. The more normal and well-adjusted I look, the more people look the other way.”

“You don’t want people looking at you?”

“I want the right people looking at me,” Peter said easily. “I want it to be on my terms. There’s a lot of eyes on me with the mess I left behind in Phoenix. If sitting through school gets me there faster, all the better.”

“So you wouldn’t be going if you had the choice?” Juno asked.

“I haven’t needed to so far,” Peter said. He saw Juno’s siblings pull up in a car of their own and Peter raised a brow at Juno, who just started walking towards the school. It seemed the entire family was purposefully not looking in their direction, which amused Peter greatly.

“So, you haven’t been to school before?” Juno asked.

“Mag thought there wasn’t anything they could teach me he couldn’t just as well, if not better,” Peter mused. “From my time here, I’ll admit the old man was right about a few things. It seems like a waste of time to me.”

“And what would you be doing if you weren’t here? Stealing?”

“Maybe,” Peter said. “Wherever the wind would take me.”

“And that kind of life appeals to you?”

Peter met Juno’s gaze. Juno wasn’t looking at him with pity, far from it. Most of the people Peter had talked to would look at him like that when they heard his story, how he was raised. Mag brought him up from a child. He was the first adult Peter remembered, and Mag knew exactly how he wanted to raise Peter. But the way Juno was looking at him… Their pasts had their similarities, but their wants were entirely different. Juno wanted a normal life and Peter wanted anything but. So maybe Juno was looking at him with curiosity or confusion, maybe cursing the fact that he couldn’t just read Peter’s mind and get all the answers.

“Not knowing what’s coming next and doing whatever it takes to survive?” Peter asked. “Yes, that kind of life appeals to me greatly. This sitting still thing gets rather dull, I think.”

“How on Earth have you managed to stay alive until now?” Juno asked.

“A lot of luck and a little bit of skill,” Peter said.

“And what are your skills?” Juno asked. The bell rang and Peter sighed. Off to class, then, unfortunately.

“I don’t know if I should be giving away all of my secrets,” Peter said. “Are you going to be walking me to class as well, like a real gentleman?”

“I mean, it’ll take me about a second to get to my class on time, so it makes more sense than the other way around,” Juno mused, like it hadn’t occurred to him to just not walk to Peter’s classes with him. Peter couldn’t help but laugh a little at that, the virtuous nature Juno still had in him despite spouting just last night about how he was some kind of monster.

“Then I guess there’s no stopping you.”

“You know, this whole not being able to read your mind thing is pretty annoying,” Juno said, nodding in the direction of Peter’s first class. Peter decided not to ask how he knew where it was.

“What ever did you do before you had your powers?” Peter asked.

“Stumbled around, mostly,” Juno said. “Got to all the good shit on accident.”

“Then maybe you’ll have a happy accident with me,” Peter said. “You already know my name, don’t you?”

“Not all of it,” Juno said.

“Please,” Peter scoffed. “It wouldn’t be hard to find news about me if you just searched my name with Phoenix. It’s still rather recent, I imagine. You could learn all you want from that.” 

“What if I’d rather you told me?”

Peter hummed. “I might tell you, under the right amount of persuasion.”

Juno nearly gave Peter what he was angling for. He scoffed and rolled his eyes but there was still a playful smirk that would have led to something a little more if Juno hadn’t gotten distracted by looking ahead into Peter’s classroom.

“Cecil’s waiting for you,” Juno said. “Looks like he’s got a million questions about last night.”

Peter allowed himself to be disappointed for a moment. “Anything you’d prefer I didn’t say? I can get rather creative when making up a story.”

“Cecil’s certainly looking for one,” Juno said. “Just don’t give him too many ideas. His mind is already terrifying when it comes to me. See you at lunch?”

“Sure.”

Juno nodded, ducking into a crowd of students and disappearing. Peter took a breath before going into the building, where Cecil was lurking just in the door to latch onto his arm.

“So, Rex, you must tell me every detail about last night,” Cecil urged. “Please tell me you slept with Juno Steel, I need to know what it was like.”

Peter laughed. “No, I didn’t.”

Cecil pouted.

“But,” Peter said, “I suppose we did go on a date.”

“He does seem like the kind of lady not to put out on a first date,” Cecil mused, letting Peter go to get to their seats. “But what was dinner like?”

“I’m not sure what you want,” Peter said. “He’s still just as mysterious as before. I didn’t exactly get a lot of answers out of him.”

“I don’t care about what he’s  _ like _ ,” Cecil assured him as he sat down. “But I need to know, are you two dating now?”

Peter thought on that for a moment. What a simple question complicated by things Cecil couldn’t even imagine. Not only was there Juno’s conscience about his immortality and inability to have an ounce of fun or take anything for himself...but there was also Peter’s past. Any time he’d ever gotten this close to someone, they’d been a mark. And just the idea of using Juno as a mark when Peter felt this way made his stomach churn. He couldn’t bring himself to even think about it. He was in far too deep for comfort. But still, he’d never been this close with anyone, not even marks he’d had to flirt with.

And again Peter considered Juno, who might just be able to hear this conversation, or at least read Cecil’s mind to figure out what’s happening. That made things a little easier, simply because he loved to see which of Juno’s buttons he could press.

“Yes, I suppose we are,” Peter said. Telling Cecil was one of the quickest ways to get the news out to nearly the entire school. Surely, he’d try to put something like this into the school paper, but the real rumor mill would be word-of-mouth, which Juno was bound to notice.

Cecil looked about ready to burst out of his skin with excitement at the news, but before he could implode, the teacher called for attention and Peter happily turned his attention forward, if only to not deal with the aftermath of his decision.

He tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that kept coming back when he thought for too long about the concept of dating Juno Steel. Sure, he’d said it to bother the lady, but Peter couldn’t say he would mind it. And again Peter thought back to his plan for his future and how that was dependent on having no personal ties so he could leave Forks as fast as possible and continue on with his life. Dating Juno, thereby putting him at the center of attention of this town yet again, was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

And yet he couldn’t bring himself to regret the choice. Maybe staying here a little longer wouldn’t be all that bad. He had stable shelter and people willing to take care of him...and as much as that chafed and made him uncomfortable, it was enough to keep him on his feet. He would need to move on eventually, but it couldn’t hurt to stay in one place for a little while.

...He really was getting soft, wasn’t he? A few months in a small town was all it took to change Peter from a hardened criminal to just another teenager crushing on a boy. If Mag could see him....

Peter looked out the window of the classroom.

What would Mag say if he could see him now? This was a far cry from the revolutionary ideals and the killing to stay alive that Mag had raised him with. Would Mag think he’d gone soft, or would he be happy Peter had the option? There were a lot of things Peter hoped Mag would do...and many of those that Mag didn’t do when he had the chance. He believed in the greater good for all...at the cost of a few. But he wanted good and Peter had to believe that.

The bell rang and Peter almost didn’t notice it. Cecil immediately started trying to chat his ear off once again and Peter just had to give non-committal answers as he got himself out of his own head. He had to file that train of thought away for later. Now was not the time to weigh the pros and cons of staying for a long time in Forks. Every bone in his body wanted to jump and leave, but every thought in his brain wanted nothing more than to stay.

It took until lunch for him to really shake the train of thought and get his mind off of Mag. Where there were thoughts of Mag, certain images came to mind and those were certainly hard to shake. He’d put real thought into this later, when he had the time. He just had to...file it away for now.

And that was surprisingly easy when he walked into the lunch room and saw that Juno was already alone at a table, waiting for him. Peter got through the food line as fast as he could, not even paying attention to his meal, and tried to quell his excitement just a little bit as he sat down across from Juno.

“So, we’re dating now?” Juno asked. He looked like he wanted to be annoyed but couldn’t quite bring himself to be, which made Peter smirk.

“I figured you could hear us. You only told me not to give him too many ideas,” Peter said. “I only gave him one.”

Juno shifted in his seat, glancing over at his family for a second. “Is that… Do you…”

Peter couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Juno’s squirming. He could tell exactly what Juno was trying to ask. He didn’t need to read minds to know, Juno’s face was a give away to a lot of his thoughts. Even as a vampire, he fidgeted and glanced around. It made him a bit more human.

“Is that what  _ you _ want?” Peter asked, giving Juno a break, which Juno seemed to appreciate, though he struggled with Peter’s question.

“I don’t think I’m in a position to want anything,” Juno admitted.

“Why not?” Peter asked.

Juno scoffed. “How many times do I need to talk about the whole monster thing before you really get it?”

“And how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care for it to stick? Now, tell me, do you want us to be dating? I’m not afraid to take it back.”

Juno had a moment with fear clear on his face. He looked about ready to bolt, but Peter stood his ground, not tearing his eyes away.

“I...do…” Juno admitted. “Do you? Or did you just wanna get under my skin?”

“Well, I would love to get under your skin regardless,” Peter said, “but yes, if you think that’s alright.”

Juno licked his lips, glancing over at his family again, and this time Peter looked with him. Sasha and Alessandra were glaring daggers at him while Mick and Rita looked like they were on the edge of their seats. They had the same hearing Juno did. If he could hear Peter from a different building, they could definitely hear them from across the cafeteria.

“I mean, it’s not alright,” Juno said. “But when has that ever stopped either of us?”

“Well, I’m honored, Juno,” Peter said. “Shall we seal it with a kiss?”

“Trust me, Rex, you don’t want this mouth anywhere close to you,” Juno said.

“Now, both of us know that isn’t true.”

Juno made that face where Peter was sure he would blush if he had the blood to do it, followed by a petulant growl that made Peter chuckle.

“Do you really need to go to Seattle this weekend?” Juno asked.

“Why? Do you have somewhere better to be?” Peter asked, dearly hoping that Juno didn’t suddenly want to go to this dance that he was desperately ignoring.

“I’ve got someplace I’d like to show you. It’s...well, it’s better as a surprise, I’d say.”

“Sounds lovely,” Peter said. “I can delay a trip to Seattle. Is this just an attempt to keep me from stealing again?”

“Let’s call that an added bonus. Have you told Khan about this trip of yours? That I’m going to be there?”

“I don’t think he needs to know about everything I’m doing,” Peter said. “And he seems like the protective type. I doubt it’s worth the trouble telling him about you.”

“Seriously?” Juno asked, turning surly again and Peter sighed. Eventually, he’d be used to Juno’s shifting attitude. “You should tell him you’re coming with me. Call it a...safety precaution.”

“Do you think you’d hurt me, Juno?”

“I think you’re better safe than sorry.”

“What if I want to try those odds?”

Juno sighed. “You really shouldn’t trust me this much. It’s not safe.”

“I find life more exciting when it’s not safe.”

“Just...promise me you’ll tell someone. That you’re going to be alone with me?”

“I’ll consider it.” Peter waited a moment before he picked up his next train of thought. “You know, I still have a lot of questions for you.”

“Yeah? Can’t say I’ll be able to answer all of them.”

“I’m just curious,” Peter said. “All of this stuff about vampires, I’ve allowed myself to get distracted. We’re dating now and I don’t know a lot about you. I’d like to change that.”

“I’m not that interesting, trust me,” Juno said, with one of those sighs that alluded to a story he wasn’t willing to tell yet. And Peter wasn’t one to pry.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Peter said. “Tell me, what interests you?”

“What interests me?”

“Yes, what interests you, Juno Steel? If I’m to be any kind of partner to you, I should at least know what you like.”

“I don’t know.” Juno shrugged, looking anywhere but at Peter. It was obvious he didn’t like being the center of attention. It made him squirm and fidget, antsy to get the attention anywhere else. “Mysteries,” he finally said and Peter tilted his head. “I like...mysteries, I guess. That’s not the right way to put it...I… Just reading one of them or watching one isn’t enough. I like to have the mystery for myself, a challenge that I need to solve, I guess.”

“And is that what attracted you to me?” Peter asked. “With my ‘obviously fake’ name?”

“A little, yeah,” Juno admitted. “What are your interests?”

Peter smirked. “You might be disappointed to hear it, but I do find crime rather fascinating. Oh, it’s mostly not in  _ that  _ way, don’t worry. I don’t spend my days plotting my next big heist. I find the history of it fascinating. The big figures in the past, the ones that were never caught, or the ones that were caught and left legends in their wake. I guess we’re not too far off each other with our interests. Crime and mystery tend to go hand in hand.”

“Maybe,” Juno said. He chuckled slightly. “You know, at one point I thought I’d be one of the guys catching people like you.”

“Juno Steel, a cop?” Peter asked.

“I considered it, yeah. A detective.”

“And what happened to that idea?”

“This,” Juno said, a trace of that frown coming into play. He wasn’t explicit about it, sure, but Peter could get the gist. Juno was turned into a vampire before he got to any of his dreams or aspirations. He had died as a teenager, after all. And while Peter’s dreams could still live on with something like that, Juno’s dreams and a sense of doing good that seemed to emanate from him likely didn’t coincide well with becoming a monster.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Juno,” Peter said.

“Yeah, well, shit happens, I guess,” Juno said. “What about you? Any career goals?”

Peter smirked. He’d had quite a lofty goal once, with Mag. To have his name be feared across the whole world, a big name in crime, forever in the history books. To change the way the world worked because anyone doing bad would fear his name and the misfortune that would strike at the sound of it. A revolutionary. But that dream had been quelled when the police arrived that night.

“Nothing comes to mind, I’m afraid,” Peter said. And that was true. He didn’t have any goals right now other than eventually finding a way to disappear once again, which at this point he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go through with anymore.

“Well, you’ve still got time,” Juno said easily, like he’d already given up on himself and hadn’t noticed that Peter had, too.

“I suppose I do… Now, I have another question for you. Do you have any hobbies?”

“Hobbies?” Juno asked with a short laugh, like he wasn’t expecting a question like that.

“Yes,” Peter said. “What do you do when you’re not going to school, hunting animals, or stalking me? I imagine it must be something.”

Lunch went by uneventfully after that with them passing the time asking mundane questions, and Peter erred on the side of steering clear of heavy conversations, hoping to keep the conversation light and keep Juno engaged. And also keep his mind occupied while he buzzed with excitement about the fact that he was now officially dating Juno Steel. He really needed to work on controlling these emotions if he wanted any effective future in crime.

And then the bell rang and it was time for Biology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	10. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Juno get to know each other even better. One thing leads to another, and Peter decides to tell Juno all about Mag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes into Peter's backstory. No spoilers, but if you've listened to his backstory in the podcast, you kinda know what's coming, so consider this your warning going ahead.

The school was acting different now, that much was blatantly obvious to Peter. There was a shocked silence whenever he passed, especially with Juno. Peter was used to people staring at him, but it had lessened in the last few months as everyone got used to his face. Juno was likely used to it as well, what with being the talk of the town. But this was different. Cecil had gotten the news circulating the second he heard it, texting away under his desk at the speed of light. The entire school knew by lunch and if anyone didn’t, Juno and Peter meeting up once again practically confirmed it. 

And what really brought it home was when Peter decided to be cheeky and took hold of Juno’s hand. It was surprisingly cold and hard, but smooth. Like stone. At first, Juno jumped and lurched his hand back, far faster than possible for a human.

“Before you spout something about danger,” Peter said, “I just want to ask you a simple question. Do you want to be close to me?”

“What?” Juno asked.

Peter stopped walking a few feet from the cafeteria building and Juno stopped with him, arms crossed in front of his chest in defense. 

“I could tell you were about to lecture me again about how dangerous you are. I figured I would stop you short.”

“Listen, Rex, we can play at this dating thing all we want, but getting close to me…”

“Yes, again, we’ve been over this,” Peter said. “Obviously, I don’t care. Do you really have that little faith in yourself that you can’t be trusted to hold my hand?”

“I can’t just…”

“I will offer you a deal, Juno,” Peter said, walking closer to Juno, looking at his hand and putting his own hand forward, palm up. “If you don’t actually want to hold my hand, and you tell me so, I won’t ask again and you may bring it up any other time you wish to take it back. But if you do want to hold my hand, then I need you to acknowledge that I’m not made of glass and that you know how to control yourself.”

Juno stared at the offered hand for a short while, the gears in his head obviously turning, and his eyes kept flickering back up to Peter’s. Until, finally, he spoke. “If you don’t wanna be treated like you’re made of glass, you really chose the wrong name, didn’t you,” Juno took hold of the hand, but immediately looked away, “Rex Glass?”

Peter couldn’t help but chuckle at that, happily continuing on his way while holding tightly onto Juno Steel’s hand. 

“Your death wish is gonna kill you someday,” Juno said.

“If it’s by your hand, then I don’t think I’ll mind.”

Holding hands with Juno Steel caught a lot of attention. Peter even caught the intense stares from Juno’s siblings, but nothing compared to the searing jealousy oozing off of Nova as they walked together into Biology. Peter hoped futilely that maybe dating Juno would make Nova finally leave him alone. The class went by as usual, with Peter more focused on anything other than the subject. He busied himself with thinking about where Juno could want to take him and he allowed himself to get a little excited about it.

Juno also didn’t seem to be paying much attention to class, his eyes unfocused but still staring at the front of the room as he absently tapped his fingers on the table. Peter couldn’t help but be curious about the thoughts running through Juno’s head. Of course, Juno was worried about hurting someone, aware of every action. But Peter was also curious about Juno's more mundane thoughts. Did he worry about homework? What class did he look forward to the most? What did he think about all the thoughts he could read all the time? Peter smirked at the reminder that he was one of the few people Juno couldn’t read the mind of. 

Juno wound up walking him to PE and as much as Peter dreaded going to that class, he liked the extra time he could spend with Juno. Peter could practically feel Nova’s eyes boring holes into them from where she was walking a few feet behind them. 

“I’m curious,” Peter said, “do you have to focus to hear people’s thoughts? Or are they just always around?”

Juno shrugged. “After a while, you get used to it, I guess. They’re always around, but it’s kind of like a radio. I can choose not to tune in and it’s just background noise, static. Why?”

“What’s Nova thinking right now?” 

“Oh, her?” Juno laughed. “Her thoughts are loud and clear, it’s almost like she wants me to hear her. Do you know the kind of stuff she thinks about you every day?”

“I have an idea,” Peter said. “But right now, I’m sure she’s heard the news. Is it too optimistic to hope she’ll finally leave me alone?”

“I mean...She’s currently a little lost in a fantasy centered around forbidden love and cheating and plot twists centered around your passionate love, so...I’d say the chances are pretty low.”

“Fantastic,” Peter said. “I always look forward to wearing gym shorts while she stares at me for an hour.”

“She looks forward to it, too,” Juno teased.

“I’m sure you’d love it as well.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Any encouraging words as I go into the front lines?”

Juno shrugged. “Good luck with Nova, I guess. I’ll see you after school.”

“I’ll see you after school.”

Peter let Juno’s hand go, since now he had free license to hold Juno’s hand whenever he wanted and he was going to take advantage of it whenever he could and therefore had been holding it their entire walk. He gratefully ducked into the locker room before Nova could get too close, and the look she had on her face certainly looked like she wanted to talk to Peter.

Sadly, he wasn’t free of her for long, since he was assigned her as a teammate in the most recent sport they were being forced to play. Peter was more than happy during all of these team sports to simply stand in the back and ignore the proceedings, participation grade be damned, but now it seemed Nova didn’t mind also abandoning their other teammates to stand back with him.

“It’s been a while since our last talk, sugar,” Nova said as her greeting. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were ignoring me.”

“It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?” Peter asked. He didn’t want to be outright rude to her, but something about her just tested his patience enough to let go of his normally polite mask.

“So…. You and Juno Steel?”

It was meant as a leading question, like she was begging for more information and Peter had no intention of giving her any.

“What about us?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nova drawled. “I was just talking to some folks lately and I just can’t help but notice it doesn’t seem like the best match.”

“Oh?” Peter asked, completely uninterested.

“I just don’t like the way he looks at you,” Nova said. She attempted to lean closer, into Peter’s space, and he politely side-stepped away. “He looks at you the same way I look at a big, old plate of brownies on cheat day. And don’t get me wrong, dear, you are a snack and I’d love to eat you up in more ways than one, but  _ he _ takes it to a whole other level.”

Peter highly doubted, even with Juno literally craving to drink his blood, that Juno was the one that looked at him more aggressively. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter said, daring a step forward, into the fray at least as an excuse to step away from her. It was funny, admittedly, that Nova was right on the money for Juno, but he chose to ignore that for the time being.

Thankfully, PE seemed to pass quickly and Peter still managed to avoid breaking a sweat and changed as fast as possible, greeting Juno with a smile while he was waiting just outside the locker room. Peter was more than happy to pull Juno away from the locker room to avoid Nova, who notoriously took ages to put her face back on after every PE class.

“It was such an awful time away from you, dear,” Peter said dramatically, quickly reaching forward to grab hold of Juno’s hand once again. He knew Juno was fast enough that it wouldn’t matter how fast Peter went for it, but it was nice to think that his speed affected things.

“Yeah, I’m sure it was unbearable for you,” Juno said. “You actually participated today, was it that bad?”

“How do you…” Peter stopped himself. “How often do you watch me in PE, Juno?”

Juno made that face that reminded Peter of a blush. “Not often. I mean...I try not to spy on people, that’s just gross and wrong, but sometimes...I get a little curious.”

“Curious.”

“Okay, listen. You’re all prim and put together and poised and sometimes it’s nice to see people like you being forced to run around a gym a few times in stupid shorts. Sue me. Also, it is impossibly infuriating that you manage to still somehow look poised and put together most of the time in said stupid shorts.”

“I’m...flattered?” Peter was honestly still put out by the whole PE thing and daily considered the pros and cons of just skipping the damned class while he was still here. But whatever was happening with Juno meant he might actually be in town for longer than he anticipated. Meaning skipping PE everyday would leave more of a mark. And Peter, stupidly, was beginning to get invested in his GPA and reputation.

“You can sneak into my PE period sometime if you really want to get back at me,” Juno said. “Like I said, I don’t do it often and sometimes I can’t help it, especially since Nova’s so damn  _ loud _ .”

“Now, those thoughts I would definitely prefer I’m not privy to,” Peter said.

“Me, too,” Juno said bluntly. They were already at the parking lot and Peter could feel the glares of Juno’s family once again. Well, technically only two were glaring at them while one was actively eating snacks while staring, enthralled, at them.

“I don’t mean to be insensitive,” Peter said, trying to find the right way to ask this question.

“What? Another vampire question?” Juno asked, focused on pulling out his keys, probably to avoid looking at his family while they made their way across the parking lot.

“One of your siblings is eating what appears to be salmon flavored chips. I believe it’s Rita?”

Juno didn’t even look over. “Yeah, that sounds like Rita.”

“Can you even eat...regular food?”

Juno chuckled. “Uh, technical answer? No? Most of us don’t feel the need so we don’t. I’m not even fully sure how it’s digested or whatever. Rita says she’s willing to deal with it and I’m  _ not _ reading her mind to figure out what actually happens to her when she eats. She says she’s not willing to give up her snacks, even in death, or something.”

“Fascinating,” Peter mused. They approached Juno’s car and, while he was able to unlock it, he then paused, licking his lips before glancing at their hands. Peter couldn’t help but smile. “I think we’ll have plenty of time to continue this later. And I’ll ask before I move this time. May I kiss your cheek, Juno?”

Juno looked at the ground and Peter was growing very confident in his ability to imagine Juno when he could blush (and allowed himself to be a little sad that he would never get the opportunity to see it). Then Juno got that look on his face that Peter was also used to seeing, the tortured, ‘it’s dangerous’ face.

“Before you say it,” Peter said, leaning close to Juno, but not close enough that it would make Juno anxious, “I definitely acknowledge the dangers and obviously I trust you. But you are allowed to say no if you don’t trust yourself.”

“Uh...Yeah, sure, go ahead.” He had a lilt to his voice that was still a little unsure, but he also had that grin on his face when he was about to do something reckless.

Peter allowed himself with a smile before placing a quick peck on Juno’s check, releasing his hand. He allowed the feeling to linger, the cool, smooth stone that would admittedly take some getting used to, and also allowed a small smirk at the way Juno’s hand tightened on his when they made contact. Then Peter ducked over to the other side of the car to climb inside.

Juno shook his head as he also climbed inside. “Man, Vespa’s never gonna drop this once they get news to her.”

“I’m so glad I can be a bad influence on you,” Peter said and Juno laughed.

“Isn’t the vampire the one that’s supposed to be a corrupting influence?”

“You’re corrupting me plenty, I assure you.” Peter allowed a comfortable silence to fill the car as Juno got them out of the parking lot, waiting for another subject. “What  _ do  _ you eat?” He asked suddenly, the question rising from their previous conversation.

“Huh?”

“I know you drink from animals,” Peter said. “Do you have a favorite?”

Juno smiled. “I mean...We all have a preference, but normally we just go with whatever’s in season for hunters. To avoid suspicion. And to avoid hitting animals that really don’t need to be hit. Saving the planet or whatever.”

“You haven’t fully answered my question.”

Juno thought for a moment. “Mountain lion.”

“Mountain lion?” Peter asked. He hadn’t expected that answer at all and Juno laughed.

“Despite what you may think, it’s not that much of an added challenge.”

“I have many follow up questions.”

“Of course.”

“How long did it take you to find this preference?”

Juno shrugged. “I dunno. Time kinda blurs all together eventually. I mean, you can kinda tell by smell what you’re gonna prefer so it just took a little bit of hunting around here.”

“Does everyone have a specific preference or is mountain lion just preferred cuisine?”

“Nah, everyone’s got a favorite. Kinda tells you a little bit about everyone. Alessandra prefers a good bear, either for the taste or the challenge I honestly can’t tell.”

“A bear?” Peter couldn’t help the image of even Alessandra, as strong as she was, going against a bear and taking it down with the ease Peter imagined a vampire would have.

“Rita’s interesting because she at least says she still prefers human snacks over blood, but no vampire actually does. We may think we do, but we don’t. She always gets jittery when a squirrel shows up. Sasha prefers foxes and Mick’s weak for goats for some reason. Vespa and Buddy both prefer wolves and Jet is really finicky about moose.”

“Fascinating.” Peter couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what his own preference would be as a vampire and immediately knew what Juno would say to those kinds of thoughts. He filed that one away for later to better asses and figure out his own feelings about… “Someday, I’ll have to see what you look like fighting a mountain lion.”

Juno stiffened at that. “No, you’re not going anywhere near us when we’re hunting.”

“Why? Do you think I won’t like the image?” Peter scoffed.

“No, it’s more…” Juno hesitated and Peter’s stomach sank as he saw the Khan’s house come into view. He didn’t want this time to end. “When we hunt, we get into this mindset… We let the predator loose, I guess. And, like I said, animals are great, but they’re really nothing compared to human blood. If we were to smell anything like that, we might not be able to stop ourselves. You don’t want to see a vampire frenzy. You are never going to see me or any of us, for that matter, in that state. It’s way too dangerous.”

Juno put his car into park, but Peter noticed that it was mostly out of the view of the kitchen window. When he turned his gaze to Juno, he shrugged.

“Maybe...I like talking to you. We don’t have to stop just because you’re home.”

“I suppose not,” Peter said. “Well, since we have the time, I have to ask…”

They talked until the sun set, and Peter couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He managed to grab hold of one of Juno’s hands once again and found himself tracing across Juno’s stone smooth skin as they talked, sometimes about vampires and sometimes about themselves. Peter honestly didn’t mind it. He never really thought of himself as the type to talk to anyone for this long, sometimes about nothing important. Whenever he’d hit a mark before, it was quick conversation, all contrived to get to his desired target. There was always a goal and then once he’d gotten it, he was done.

Talking with Juno Steel, he always had a new target. There was so much about him Peter wanted to know. There were things Juno would share that Peter didn’t know he wanted to learn, but he did. And whenever Peter learned something new, there were a million more things in line that he still wanted to know. He didn’t mind being a little honest in there, too, with Juno. With Mag, Peter was only ever honest with one person in his life, and when Mag died, Peter had been sure he would never be that honest with anyone ever again. And Juno was cracking that reserve.

But Peter honestly couldn’t bring it in himself to mind. It was foolish and reckless and went against everything he had planned for his own future...but Peter didn’t care! Mag wasn’t there to nag over his shoulder that they had a plan because he was the only one in charge of his own plan. And he could change it whenever he wanted. And maybe he did. Or maybe he could just tweak it, take Juno Steel with him when he ran off. Either way, whatever plan he made next was going to involve Juno. And while that absolutely terrified him because he knew the risks of getting close to anyone in his line of work (if that was even what he wanted to be his line of work anymore) it also made him a little excited.

He was given a script when he went in front of that judge in Phoenix. It was well-practiced and highly calculated by Peter and the lawyer he’d been lucky enough to receive in order to get him the best outcome with his shitty situation. That day, he’d spouted a lot of bullshit about wanting to leave this part of his life behind him and to become a model citizen. He’d promised he wouldn’t let Mag’s ‘brainwashing’ turn him into another Mag. And while those were some of the hardest words he’d ever had to say, there could be some truth to it now.

Juno leaned away from him and Peter had only just noticed how close they were in his little car.

“Uh, Captain Khan’s gonna be getting home soon,” Juno said. “I can hear him. You should probably get inside before he…”

“Right,” Peter said, allowing himself to break away from Juno and all of his circling thoughts. He had so much to sit on that he wasn’t even sure what to think about. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up again,” Juno said. “No offense to Ruby, but I think my car’s a little safer.”

“I resent that,” Peter said.

Juno surprised Peter, then. Just as Peter was about to turn and open the door, Juno darted forward. It was a little too fast to be human and Peter almost didn’t know what he did, but there was a soft, cold pressure on his cheek. Peter felt an overwhelming urge to yank Juno into a real kiss and he almost gave himself over to it. Had Juno been a human, Peter would have, Khan’s arrival be damned. But Peter knew what was going through Juno’s mind, Juno’s trust of himself, and the fact that while Juno allowed all of this contact, he was still working on being comfortable with it all. So, Peter offered a smile.

“Until tomorrow, then.”

Peter hurried inside, stopping in the kitchen to see if Noor needed any help with dinner. When she asked where Peter had been, he just said he was with friends before promising to do dishes and darting upstairs just before Khan came home. Bedroom door closed behind him, Peter couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the situation he’d managed to get himself into. And, dammit, he was excited to see what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Juno arrived perfectly on time after Omar and Noor left in their own cars and Peter acknowledged the thrill that went down his spine as he hopped into the passenger seat.

“Alright, my turn to lead the questions,” Juno said before Peter could say anything.

“Excited to see me, I take it?” Peter asked. “What was wrong with the questions as of yesterday?”

“Well,” Juno said, already off to school, “I think you know a lot more about me than I do about you.”

“I’ll answer your questions,” Peter said, “if you also answer a few more yourself. You’re still quite the enigma, Juno Steel.”

“Yeah, nowhere near as much as you,” Juno scoffed. “What’s your name? You don’t have to tell me, but-”

“Nureyev,” Peter said, the answer spilling out before he really thought about it. “Peter Nureyev.” He had no idea what made him do it, honestly. Maybe he was just losing his grip, maybe he was getting overwhelmed with stupid ideas that wouldn’t go anywhere, maybe he was being reckless. But he felt a thrill near Juno Steel that he couldn’t fight, and he didn’t really intend to fight it while he was still having a good time. So sue him, he was making a bad decision, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

“Nureyev,” Juno echoed. Peter felt a similar thrill to when Juno used his first name for the first time. It was equal parts satisfying...and terrifying. “Not bad.”

“I’m glad it’s satisfactory to you,” Peter said with a laugh. “Now I’m curious what your other questions for me are.”

“Again, these all come with the caveat that you don’t have to tell me anything, I just...I’m curious.”

“As any good detective is,” Peter teased. He was a little hesitant to push that, since it seemed Juno was sensitive to the subject, but he seemed to take it alright. Peter tucked that one away for later.

“What, uh… You talked about it a little bit before, but Mag, what was he like?”

Peter considered that for a while. Long enough for them to get to the school parking lot. “Well, he was a lot of things, I suppose. And while I owe a lot to him, I will have to say that being a good father figure was not one of them. He left a bit to be desired.”

“Yeah, with how well you can pick a pocket, I could guess,” Juno said.

“And your parents, Juno?”

“Later,” Juno said. “I...It’s a little too heavy a topic for school.”

“You also don’t have to,” Peter reminded him, stepping out of the car.

“Yeah, I know,” Juno said. “I’ll tell you one thing about Buddy, though. She’s…exactly what I needed, maybe a little too late to actually save my life, but at least she’s around now. If you’d come around a few decades ago, I’d’ve shoved you away and wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But now? I don’t know, I guess I’ve kind of accepted it all as a part of me.”

“Well, she sounds like a lovely woman,” Peter said. “I hope to eventually meet her.”

“Me, too,” Juno said. “Now, Mag…”

“Right, yes, Mag,” Peter said. “Well, he was equal parts one of the smartest men in the business of thievery and the most self-righteous man you’d have the displeasure to meet. He had a tendency to view others as obstacles in the way or fodder for a ‘greater good’. He thought he was a good man and most days he was…”

“Except for when it mattered?”

Peter looked at Juno. The way he looked back at Peter said it all. He got it. Mag was the kind of man who you would follow to the ends of the Earth because he was a good man. But he turned at the last second and made some bad decision or didn’t tell you the whole plan because he thought you could fill in the blanks for yourself. People always asked what made people follow some of the worst people in history. And it was because they were good people, at least at the start. And when it really mattered, when they needed to do something with a moral code...it all fell apart. Juno looked like he knew someone exactly like that. Peter didn’t need to explain anything to him.

“Yes, exactly. He was the kind of man to see an abandoned child on the street and immediately take him under his wing. My childhood was much more about how to deceive people and all the ways to pick a pocket than whatever the hell it is they teach kids now. First rule of thieving: always make sure you are the best person in the room at what you do, or someone will always get the better of you.”

“First rule of thieving, huh?”

“Yes, there were quite a lot of those,” Peter said.

“You talk about him in the past tense,” Juno said delicately, like he was afraid of asking this question. “Is he…”

“Dead?” Peter offered. “Yes. He is.” Peter took a breath as he felt those familiar tears start to well in his eyes. Now wasn’t the time to get overwhelmed with  _ those _ emotions. “That, I think, is a topic better suited to after school.”

“Right, yeah, sure,” Juno said quickly. “And you don’t have to…”

“No, I think I want to,” Peter said. “You’ve done me a kindness by not looking into me. Even with just my first name and where I’m from...you could have easily figured it out. And I have just as much a claim to that title of monster as you do. I think it’s fair that you should know eventually. Now’s a good a time as any to see if my baggage is something you want to carry with you.”

Juno nodded at that, lost in his own thoughts for a moment. Peter reached over to take a hold of his hand.

“I don’t mind the questions, to be clear,” Peter said. “There just a bit...personal. I had half a mind I wouldn’t let anyone as close to me as Mag was...ever again. I built up a few walls. It will take a bit to break them back down.”

Juno snorted. “That I get. Alright, sure. How about an easier question, then? You have any friends over in Phoenix?”

“Friends?” Peter thought for a moment, following Juno as he started strolling towards the school buildings. “Unless you want to count the several people I tricked for long-term cons throughout childhood, I don’t think so.”

“Jeez, Rex,” Juno laughed, “you and I are a lot more similar than you’d think. Okay, so no friends, you didn’t go to school. So what exactly did you do?”

“Oh, now that is where it gets interesting,” Peter said. “I have a long list of heists and thefts and tricks I could tell you about. Which would you like to hear first; the time I let loose an entire kennel of dogs from a kill shelter at the tender age of six or the time I convinced the mayor I was her long lost son in order to steal a key to a city for an entirely different heist?”

Peter liked showing off to Juno, that he learned quickly throughout the day. One good thing that came out of Mag was that he did have a conscience most of the time and so almost all of Peter’s heists were for the ‘greater good’ or whatever you wanted to call it. And Juno had a core of wanting to do good, so all of these stories about stealing and lying for good actually went a long way with him. And some were absolutely ridiculous, so it got a good laugh, which was a relief after such a heavy talk in the morning.

Peter could barely focus on any of his classes for the rest of the day and everyone else might as well have not existed. All that mattered was talking with Juno between classes and during lunch to leave him with the best stories possible. And Peter got a few in exchange, too. Some from when Juno was younger, not yet a vampire, of all the times he got in trouble as a child for protecting his brother or would shoplift ridiculous things because he decided he wanted them...Or Peter got stories of Juno, Sasha, and Mick when they were young vampires and wanted to be a little rebellious while they were forced through high school after high school. The one about Mr. Nicholas was certainly fascinating, if not absolutely horrifying, especially during the part where all the blood nearly drove all of them into a frenzy.

And then Peter was sitting with Juno in his car, watching trees pass by as they drove him back home. He was trying to find the right words to start this story and Juno was giving him plenty of space to do so. It was much heavier than antics teenagers should be getting themselves into.

“Mag always had a problem with the way the police department was running,” Peter decided to begin. “There was a new law passed everyone nicknamed Kinshasa after someone I honestly don’t remember. It was a no tolerance type of law dedicated to finding criminals at any cost. The police were rather trigger happy. I suppose they must still be. The law is still in effect. The mayor didn’t give any repercussions if a police officer killed anyone, armed or otherwise, meaning that essentially any police officer could kill anyone for any offense.”

Juno set his jaw while Peter talked. Obviously, he didn’t like the idea. He struck Peter as someone who wanted to become a police officer in order to fix the problems that already existed with the police. It was a good idea in theory, but there were far more bad cops than there were good ones.

“Mag wanted to end that reign of tyranny. He had all of these ideas of revolution and fighting for the greater good. And one day a contact let him know that one of his plans was finished. Mag talked about it in vague terms for months. He kept saying it was going to change everything. That everyday folk wouldn’t have to worry when they walked down the street anymore. I liked the sound of it and of course I went with him. I went with him everywhere. He didn’t tell me what the plan was until we were in too deep…”

Peter took a breath. He’d told his story a few times and it never got easier. When he told it to the cops, he got laughed at and mocked, despite his breakdown and the cuffs around his small wrists. When he told his lawyer he had another breakdown, and she was nice, but she had no idea how to talk someone through something like that. When he’d told it in court, it was just a mass of unfeeling eyes staring at him, casting judgement for something he had to say he regretted but honestly didn’t. He told it in court-mandated therapy to a therapist who wasn’t paid enough to care about his problems or know how to get Peter through his whole host of issues.

Juno had parked in front of Khan’s house and how he was giving his full attention to Peter, hand closed around his. And for the first time Peter felt safe while telling his story.

* * *

Peter stuck close to Mag as they snuck around the building. Mag said he’d sent a well-paid friend in and Peter trusted him. Mag hadn’t steered him too wrong yet. Still, he couldn’t help but stare down the backpack on Mag’s shoulders. He’d said he didn’t trust Peter with it, barely trusted himself with it. (“First rule of thieving, Pete; when the stakes are this high, trust only yourself.”)

Everything was going perfectly to plan. When they got to the back, the window was cracked open just enough. Mag nodded to Peter, who nodded and stepped forward. The window was about a foot taller than him, but with a quick jump and a little shimmying, he made his way inside with ease. He wasn’t all that surprised when he landed inside a bathroom, even though Mag had refused to give him pretty much any details of this job aside from the fact that they were going to “fix everything.” It was a single-stall, meaning they could lock it and no one would disturb their work.

There was a rope ready, hidden in some supply boxes in a corner, and Peter set it up to give Mag an easy time to climb inside. He didn’t need to wait or help him in, instead doing his job and going to the bathroom door. He cracked it open to peer into the police station. Mag’s ‘friend’ was raving about something outlandish and the sadistic cops were having their laughs. Peter was almost excited to get rid of them.

He closed and locked the door just as Mag clumsily made his way inside, but quickly stood upright with a smirk, like he meant to do it all. (“First rule of thieving; always make everything look like it was done on purpose.”)

“Alright, Pete, good work,” Mag said. “Now I’ll just need to set this up while you keep watch and we’ll be home free.”

“Right,” Peter said with a nod, keeping close to the door. His job was painfully simple; make sure no one gets into the bathroom. With a lock on the door, it was pretty simple, and if this took a little too long to do, it would take a little awkward acting. He was used to having to do much more. In any other job, Peter would have been the distraction, but he could sense that Mag wasn’t willing to take that risk today. Peter’s face was moderately well-known by these people, and they all had their guns in easy reach with twitchy fingers. Whoever Mag had sent must not have been all that good of a friend…

Peter looked back at Mag as he was pulling supplies from the backpack, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. He was never one for the technical side of things, but neither was Mag, which was another thing that made this job strange. Sure, Mag would keep details from him all the time, but this was more than normal. That, and he wasn’t running this job like he had anything else. Still, Peter held his tongue. He knew better than to ask questions because it would lead to hours of lecturing and hundreds of lessons on thieving. They didn’t have the time for that, not in the middle of the enemy’s nest.

Mag said he’d pulled in nearly every favor for this job. Said that once this was over, nearly all of their problems would be solved. That no one would get hurt again because of these people. Peter didn’t care how it all happened, he thought, as long as they got what they deserved. 

Peter watched as Mag put all the pieces together, following the steps on some piece of paper as he hummed to himself, muttering about something or another. He was uncharacteristically quiet, too, not gloating or showing off, or teaching Peter about every single thing he did. 

Peter watched as Mag pulled out piece after piece, adding together to make a piece of machinery that honestly looked...far too big and complicated to be anything good. Mag wasn’t even finished with the damn thing and it went up to Mag’s knees in height. Peter had his suspicions about what it was...but, something that big...he didn’t want to think about the collateral damage it would cause.

Finally, Peter couldn’t take it anymore.

“What...is that?”

Mag looked up at him like he’d forgotten Peter was there, which stung a little, but it was something Peter was used to when Mag was really into something.

“Don’t worry about it, Pete,” Mag said. “I’m almost done and then we’ll be out of here.”

“I feel like I should know what we’re going to be running away from,” Peter said, standing his ground.

Mag sighed and took a moment to add one more piece to whatever he was building. The last piece, by the look of it.

“It’s a bomb, Pete,” Mag said, as he started fiddling with the wires. “It’s the only way to make all of this end.”

Hearing Mag say that it was a bomb...Peter hesitated. He never hesitated with Mag. He always took his advice, did all the steps to whatever plan Mag had in place. They’d always made sense before, and they were only hurting the people that deserved to be hurt. But a bomb that large, it would cause damage to the station, sure, but it would do a whole lot more than that.

“Mag, that’s…”

“Now, Pete,” Mag said, standing up with a smile and open arms. “I know that look on your face, and you don’t have to worry. I said I called in all my favors, didn’t I? We have it confirmed that all the worst ones are in this building right now! You remember Johnson, who arrested you last month? Or what about McRory from a year ago who shot my leg? Wynar, who killed our dear friend Stella not too long ago? They’re all right here. And that’s not even the best part.”

Mag was so excited about this that he’d worked himself up into a self-righteous frenzy. Peter had sat through speech after speech from Mag about how wrong these laws in place were and what he would do to fix it. And Peter had waited excitedly for the day he could enact those plans. But he couldn’t explain the sick pit in his stomach when he looked at that bomb.

“The mayor, she’s in her house right now, sitting down for dinner!” Mag continued. “And through my many connections, I learned she’s just a few buildings from this spot! It’s perfect! When I learned that I knew we had to go through with a plan like this!”

“What about all of the people in-between?” Peter asked, his voice small. There were a lot of people out and about. It was just after the work day, people were heading home, the traffic was bad and the foot traffic was still not great. Not to mention all the buildings around them and the people in them. This could kill hundreds, maybe more, of people just to take down a corrupt police force.

“A necessary collateral,” Mag admitted. “It’s sad, I know, but it’s something we must go through with.”

“That doesn’t make us any better than them,” Peter snapped. That was the typical PR response from the mayor and the police chief; that all these people dying that could have been innocent were a necessary collateral because in the long run the world would be safer.

“We can argue about this later, Pete,” Mag said, fiddling with more wires. Peter heard the beeps, ticking by with every second, and he felt the panic flush through him.

“What did you do?” Peter demanded, lurching forward to look at the bomb, but he couldn’t make any sense of it. He couldn’t stop it.

“We have to leave, we only have a few minutes,” Mag said, turning towards the window.

“No,” Peter said. “No, you said that we would be  _ better _ than them.”

“And we are, Pete.” Mag didn’t even bother to turn around to face him and Peter did the only thing he could think of, the only thing he knew he could do well to stop this.

“You can’t do this, Mag! This is where I’m from! I...You remember what I’ve been saying about remembering? We can’t just…”

“Enough of that, Pete,” Mag said, harshly, and that just made Peter press harder.

“No, it’s not enough, Mag,” Peter said. “What if my parents are here? You said yourself my father was a good person!”

“I said enough.”

“If I’m remembering, maybe this place is worth while!”

“Enough!” Mag snapped. “You can’t possibly be remembering anything about Phoenix, this wasn’t even the city I picked you up in!”

Peter felt the world tip under him as the news settled over him, the only noise in the room the ticking of the bomb between them.

“No…” Peter said, taking a step back, away from his mentor. “No… You said…”

“I said you were from here because that was easier, Pete,” Mag said. “I had debts where I came from before this and thought I could run away from it here. I found you on the road in New Mexico, remember? It was a long time ago, you can’t remember anything from before that, especially not here. And let me tell you, I wasn’t lying when I said there are good people here, and there’s still going to be good people here after this.”

“We still can’t do this,” Peter said, but his voice was small. It wavered, and he was afraid of any of the emotions that could come after it, but he had no idea what to do except stop Mag at any cost. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t another way, this is what has to be done,” Mag said.

“How can I trust you?” Peter asked. “You...all those stories about my father, who you knew before me, who you said sent you to  _ find _ me, those were all lies! How do I know you’re not lying now?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Mag said, going to the rope and starting the climb. “If you’re still upset later, we can talk about it then.”

“ _ Don’t walk away from me _ , Mag,” Peter seethed. “Please, don’t make me stop you.”

“I’m not making you do anything,” Mag said coldly.

Peter looked at the bomb, heard the numbers tick down, and then looked back at Mag, who didn’t even care. Couldn’t bring himself to even worry about all the lives he was about to end. Peter did all that he knew how to do, all he’d been trained to do, and the only thing he could think to do in this situation. He pulled a knife.

At the sound, Mag paused, looking over his shoulder once before continuing up to the window.

“If you want a fight, you’ll have to look somewhere else,” Mag said. “I won’t pull a knife on my own family.”

“I’ll do it,” Peter said, his hand trembling where it gripped the knife. Mag didn’t say anything, so Peter tried again. “I swear I will!” Mag kept going. He was nearly out the window, nearly out of the way of this bomb and away from the blame of killing hundreds of innocent people.

Peter didn’t have the time to think, didn’t have the time to really consider what he was doing. He had to stop Mag, had to stop this bomb.

He lunged.

* * *

“I killed him.”

There was a long silence there as Peter schooled himself together. Telling the story five times didn’t help with how much it hurt. Didn’t make him feel better for his choice. Didn’t lighten the load of what he did. And it certainly didn’t make it easier to tell. But he wasn’t sobbing this time. Yes, he was crying, and no he wouldn’t admit it out loud and he was thankful Juno wasn’t calling attention to it or telling him that it was ‘going to be okay.’ Because it wasn’t. Because Peter had killed the man that had raised him. The only one who looked at an abandoned child and saw someone worthwhile.

“He didn’t have anything to shut it off, obviously,” Peter said eventually. “There were minutes left before innocent people were going to die and while it was corrupt, I was still inside of a police station. I was covered in blood with my fingerprints on the bomb and the knife and Mag...but there wasn’t time. I called for help. I was arrested long before the bomb was turned off, but it never blew so I suppose they must have done something. I got very lucky. I was assigned a public defender who was a...genius. If it weren’t for her, I would have landed myself in prison, or I might just be dead. My best bet was to place the blame on Mag, play the part of innocent teenager manipulated into a life of crime by an abusive adoptive father. It worked. She knew I wanted to get as far away from the mess as possible and she had a list of people she knew that eventually ended in Khan, so instead of being passed into a useless foster care system...here I am.”

“Peter...I…” Juno sighed. “There’s nothing really to say, is there?”

“No,” Peter said. “That part of my life is over. Closed. I’m never going back to Phoenix. And I think my time as a revolutionary is at an end.”

“As someone who’s spent a lot of time trying to separate myself from someone who made me do some terrible things…” Juno shook his head. “You’re not like him. Doesn’t matter if he raised you or taught you everything you know or whatever. You chose a path ahead that he never would have. You’re a far better man than he was.”

“Thank you, Juno,” Peter said. He’d seen the mandated therapists and grief councilors, and he knew all the tricks and thoughts to tell himself. That was one of them, certainly, but it meant a lot more in this context. Sitting in a car with someone who obviously had seen bad as well...and staring ahead at something Peter never had; a home. A house. Somewhere he honestly felt safe to exist in, despite the police officer he was living with. He’d expected a lot when the idea was pitched for him to live with Omar Khan, but none of it held a candle to the reality he got.

“For what it’s worth, coming from something like me, I think you made the right choice there. It was a tough one with a lot of complications, but you did what you could.”

“I think so, too,” Peter said honestly. And there was a time a few months ago when he wouldn’t have been able to say that. A few weeks of sitting in foster care, steeped in depression and unable to come up with any kind of plan while he waited for all of the adults around him to just  _ stop looking at him _ so he could finally disappear and… Peter still didn’t know what the plan was after that, in that state. He’d managed to scrape himself together with the scraps of therapy he could use and the help of that kind lawyer, but it was a close call for a while in there.

The conversation was lighter after that, but Peter was more than happy to stay in the car with Juno for hours once again. They talked about the differences between Arizona and Washington, how much Peter missed the sun and heat, Juno dodging the question about where he was taking Peter in two days.

“Khan’s on his way,” Juno said eventually and Peter couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Juno again went in for another kiss on the cheek, but this time he didn’t back away as fast and Peter smirked, leaning a little closer.

“Some day I would like to kiss you,” Peter said. “When you’re comfortable, of course, but it will happen.”

“You should head out before Khan gets back,” Juno said, retreating for now. Peter sighed, but still leaned forward to give Juno a kiss on the cheek as well. And for good measure, to be a little bit of a twerp, he also kissed Juno’s forehead before leaning to pick up his backpack from where he put it at his feet. 

“Tomorrow, then?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Juno said. “And I really mean it, Khan is close.”

“You’re far too nervous,” Peter said, but stepped out of the car. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Juno said with a nod.

Peter realized just how much he was lagging behind as he closed the door and saw Khan already on his way down the street in the cruiser. He winced, but there was nothing he could do about it now as he saw Juno drive down the road to pass Khan by.

Peter made his way to the front door, arriving just in time for Khan to drive onto the driveway and step out of the cruiser. He was quiet, though, and Peter kept the door open to let him in. It was always tense with Khan, who was still acting like Peter was made of easily breakable glass. 

He stayed quiet, too, while Peter helped Noor in the kitchen where he could, which mostly consisted of keeping the kids entertained by looking at whatever craft they had their hands on now. He normally didn’t mind small children, but they did get rather taxing after a while. Still, he set the table and even made it through a few bites of spaghetti before Khan eventually decided to speak up.

“So, uh, Juno Steel, huh?”

Peter actually had to stop and process it for a minute, having previously been in a deep conversation with a toddler about the pros and cons of a unicorn running the government in exchange for edible glitter.

“What about him?” Peter asked.

Khan shrugged. “Just that you hadn’t talked about him being one of your friends. He new?”

“Relatively.”

Peter really wasn’t liking this conversation, mostly because of how awkward Khan was. This was the face of a man who’d thought he still had a few years before he had to have awkward talks with his kids about romance or other various teenage things and really wasn’t good at it yet. Likely wouldn’t be good at it until another five children went through the phase.

“Oh, you’re hanging out with one of Buddy and Vespa’s?” Noor asked excitedly, hopefully saving the conversation. “They don’t really get out much, I’m sure that’s great for the both of you.”

“You two close?” Khan asked and Peter fought not to cringe visibly. He would give anything to never have a conversation like this. Mag at least never tried to have one of these conversations with him.

“Sure.” Peter found it safe to keep to one word answers in this case. He still wasn’t all that talkative at home, and at first that was for the sake of the con, but at this point he wasn’t even sure if that was still happening, so now it was out of sheer awkwardness. He’d gone this long and he was hoping he could just keep going. But it was proving to be a very painful mistake. Maybe playing depressed foster teenager was the easier way out in this situation.

And then one of the kids decided to make this a truly mortifying conversation.

“Hey, look at that face! Rex, you  _ like _ like him, huh?”

Peter was sure in that moment that his soul left his body and he took a moment to assess what he possibly could have done for karma to put him in this situation.

Khan spoke up next with words rehearsed straight out of a teen parenting book. “Oh. Uh… Well, of course Noor and I support you and we’re glad you’re branching out.”

“Absolutely,” Noor chimed. Peter debated how likely it would be for him to vanish into his chair.

“Now, I’ve heard stories about Steel,” Khan continued. “He’s not a good influence.”

Peter decided to cut them off before this could get any worse because he could see all of the sets of wide eyes of the children locked on him, all waiting for their likely extremely probing questions and he didn’t want to deal with that tonight, still feeling a little raw from his story about Mag.

“I’m sorry. This has been an absolutely lovely meal, Noor, but I’m going to go finish my homework before it gets too late.” He stood up, pushed his chair in, and carried his plate to the sink. “Call me down when you want me to do dishes?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before he all but ran out of the room and up the stairs. Someday he would confront the awkward father-son relationship that was blooming between him and Khan, but today wasn’t about to be that day. Maybe he could buy Khan a new parenting book soon and it would go a little smoother...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not /completely/ happy with the way Peter's backstory turned out, but it's the best I got for a modern world comparison to literally dropping a satellite onto a planet. Nowhere near as many people were risked, but it's still a lot. Enough to be upset about, certainly. And I do like to think about the hypothetical situation of if Peter had been just a little slower or if the situation was tweaked just enough that he got caught during everything that happened in Angel of Brahma. So here we are, a sad Peter but a supportive Juno.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you in two days!


	11. Balancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter contemplates his relationship to Juno, the Khans, and Forks as a whole, and Juno takes Peter on a hike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, sorry I was late a day updating this! Time isn't real anymore. To make up for it, I'll also post tomorrow. My bad!

Peter was relieved and, admittedly, a little excited to see Juno the next day waiting with his car. Peter was starting to feel a little bad for Ruby, but he never regretted his time with Juno.

“So, uh, how’d it go with Khan last night?” Juno asked, pulling away from the house and Peter almost allowed himself to laugh.

“He was fine,” Peter managed. “I think he’s trying to play protective father, not that I need one.”

“What, did he give you the speech about how I’m not good enough for you?” Juno teased.

“I’m sure it would’ve gotten there,” Peter said, leaning back in his seat.

“Oh, uh, before I forget, I won’t be around after lunch,” Juno said. “Rita and I are going hunting, just to...make sure…”

“That you don’t kill me tomorrow?” Peter asked.

Juno sighed. “Hopefully. Rita, she...She’s the one that’s the most supportive about this whole situation. Everyone else is....”

“Mad at you?” Peter supplied.

“What we’re doing is dangerous,” Juno reminded. “Please tell me you’ve told someone you’re going to be alone with me.”

“Haven’t gotten around to it yet, I’m afraid,” Peter said, unwilling to commit to anything. He kind of liked the idea of no one knowing where he was going, liked the thrill and the risk that came with it. That being said, he had full confidence in Juno’s self-control, so it wasn’t all that much of a risk. Still, he could feel Juno about to protest, so he deflected it with a question, “Are you going to tell me where we’re going tomorrow? Or will I just have to wait?”

Juno smirked. “I’ll be keeping that a secret until tomorrow. I’ll probably pick you up kinda early to make sure we’ve got plenty of time. That sound okay?”

“I’m always partial to any plan that gets me to spend more time with you,” Peter admitted. “Should I wear anything special for you?”

Juno laughed, and they were already in the parking lot, already out of private time together. Peter wished Juno would drive a little slower sometimes.

“Something comfortable,” Juno said, cryptically. “No heels, hear me?”

“I suppose I can abide by that,” Peter mused. “But we have to bring Ruby, no exceptions.”

“Seriously?” Juno asked. “That death trap?”

“No exceptions,” Peter said, stepping out of the car once Juno had parked.

“Fine, but I’m driving,” Juno said.

“Will I be wearing a blindfold as well?” Peter asked.

“If you keep being nosy, maybe,” Juno said, but it was all fun and games.

“Aren’t you meant to be the nosy one, my dear detective?” Peter asked, trying out a nickname. He’d wanted to call Juno that since Juno talked about wanting to be a detective. He always thought of it fondly, liked the irony behind their ideal professions. It was worth a try, he figured, but if Juno didn’t like it, he would drop it.

Luckily, Juno dropped his head at the nickname, that small smile and look in his eyes that told Peter he might have blushed in a past life.

“Detective?” Juno asked.

“I might be new to this dating thing,” Peter said, “but don’t partners usually have nicknames for each other?”

“Yeah, but that’s shit like ‘honey’ or ‘babe’ or…”

“We can work up to those,” Peter said. The way Juno said those words, with light disdain and a mocking lilt to this voice, Peter could tell he didn’t even like them. “You can call me a thief if you’d like.”

“Maybe,” Juno said. “Detective…”

“Do you not like it?” Peter asked, hoping it really was a good nickname to use.

“I’m not a detective,” Juno said.

“Officially, no,” Peter said. “But I think the word suits you.”

“Call me what you want, I guess,” Juno said, and Peter took that as enough permission as anything else.

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something for me,” Peter said with a smirk, walking towards his first class’s building.

Juno did leave during lunch like he said, Rita happily pulling him into the parking lot and chatting his ear off. At least Mick seemed a little happy watching them go, but Peter saw very clear glares from both Sasha and Alessandra as they left. Peter had gotten so used to having lunch with Juno that it was hard to get re-accustomed to eating with Julian, Cecil, and Cassandra. Honestly, school was boring without Juno. Peter had almost forgotten about it, even only spending a few days with Juno like he had.

Peter found himself wishing he had Juno around to tease in Biology, found himself wishing he could talk to Juno about the way Nova was staring at him in PE in that insufferable way of hers, found himself a little disappointed to see Ruby waiting for him in the parking lot at the end of the day. Juno had said Rita would bring her, and Peter missed her, but he still felt the sting of Juno’s absence. 

Having Juno gone also made Peter realize how much he relied on Juno’s presence. It was... disconcerting, once Peter stopped to think about it on his way back home. Not only did this majorly disrupt all of Peter’s plans for coming to Forks in the first place, but he was getting far, far too attached. Juno had some quality about him, some pull that made Peter want to stay, and this was the first time in his life he’d wanted it.

And Peter knew that it couldn’t last. Maybe that was the biggest problem of them all. Yes, there was the whole human-vampire thing that Juno was always on about that Peter never really bought into. What struck Peter was the fact that this...whatever thing they had together, could it even be called dating? It couldn’t last like it was for long. Juno’s family hated him, at least most of them, the entire town was staring at them in awe and wonder no matter what they did, and in the end Peter would have to leave. Regardless of if he really wanted to leave or not, he had to. He couldn’t stay put for long, he would go crazy, hot vampire boyfriend or otherwise.

What he had with Juno was fun, yes, but it couldn’t last. Peter had a hunch it would come to a head anytime now. What they had right now was a balancing act and nothing more. A fun balancing act, sure, but still a balancing act.

He hated himself for it, but Peter allowed this train of thought to distract him for hours once at home. That train of thought and the fact that he was apparently considering the Khans’ house “home” now, which resulted in an entirely different level of panic that he wasn’t sure he was ready to confront yet. Luckily, he’d managed to get it all under control by the time he was helping with dinner, and luckily Noor never forced him to talk about anything.

Peter was just setting the table when Omar got home, footsteps and gear unloading loud as ever from the front door. The kids got excited, as normal, and most went to surround him and swarm him with questions, so Peter was given a moment’s respite to finish up.

Before long, though, all the children scurried back to the table to take their places, Noor kissed her husband welcome, and their normal, hectic dinner began. Peter was content as usual to stay quiet while the kids talked about their days or Khan told some story about his job (he told a lot of these and some of them were far too exciting for a small town like this and Peter assumed he made some up just to get the kids excited).

“Are you excited about your trip to Seattle, Rex?” Noor asked Peter eventually, and it took Peter a moment to notice that he was the recipient of the question.

“Yes, I suppose,” Peter said. He had to make sure he didn’t sound too excited about it, lest Noor and Omar get nervous about him again. They’d seemed to relax since he’d come back from Port Angeles, but he was certain they were still a little afraid of him running. And he did still like the thrill of going somewhere with Juno without anyone else knowing about it, so of course he would keep his day with Juno a secret.

Noor seemed to be waiting for something, and after it didn’t come, she lightly elbowed her husband, and Omar started.

“Oh, right, uh,” Khan started, rubbing at the back of his neck. “We’ve planned a fishing trip tomorrow, something the kids like doing. Noor’s been planning it with the kids for a while, and…”

“And we wanted to see if you wanted to come,” Noor supplied, seeing that Khan was a little too awkward to continue this line of questioning. Noor seemed excited about it, and a few of the kids looked at him, eyes full of excitement, as well. Khan also looked like he wanted Peter to come, some kind of strange bonding that he hoped to achieve while fishing.

The idea of fishing with dozens of children honestly sounded like the opposite of something Peter wanted to do. He didn’t want to make the Khans feel bad, though, or that he didn’t like them. He did like them, and that was its own set of problems, certainly.

“I...appreciate the offer,” Peter started.

Luckily, one of the kids with less tact than Peter finished for him. “See? I told you he wouldn’t wanna go with us on some stinky boat.”

“How come he gets a choice? I don’t wanna go, either.”

Noor gave them all a patient look that said a lot. It said they’d had this argument a few times, that Peter was a special case. That none of them got a chance to say no at all, mostly because none of them were old enough to stay home alone yet.

“It’s okay,” Noor said. “You have fun in Seattle.”

“Thank you,” Peter said. “Is there anything you’d like me to pick up, aside from the honey you’ve already requested?”

"Don't worry, the honey will be more than enough," Noor assured him.

Dinner ended with Noor calling an early night for all of the kids to make sure everyone got up early. It was a 5 o’clock wake up call for all of them, and Peter was even more grateful he wasn’t going fishing with them. He had an early wake up call as well, but he was grateful for a few extra hours to sleep, especially after staying up so late thinking about Juno Steel...and whatever the hell they had together.

* * *

The morning was quiet, as Peter had anticipated. He was used to scurrying children running every which way to get breakfast and make sure they had everything in their backpacks. And he was very used to an overly crowded bathroom. Sure, there was a little of that in the morning, but it was early enough and he was asleep enough that it didn’t bother him much. Maybe he was getting too used to this life with the Khans if he was able to sleep through something like that.

Still, it was nice to have a quiet morning to himself. Calming. His brain tried to get him to worry about what was going to become of him and Juno, of what he was going to do with himself if he couldn’t let go of his attachments, but he decided for today, he would just file all of that away. Today, he would have a fun day with Juno and not think about anything else.

Before he’d even finished washing his dishes from the morning, he could see Juno pull up in his Volvo. Peter couldn’t even stop the smile from forming on his face.

He rushed to get ready in no time, pausing in front of the door to collect himself. No use looking too eager, Juno would never let him live it down. By the time he’d opened the door, Juno was lounging against his Volvo.

“I thought we were taking Ruby,” Peter called out.

“We are,” Juno said as Peter walked up. “Just wanted to check and make sure you didn’t change your mind in the middle of the night.”

“And wouldn’t you love to just know without me telling you,” Peter said, greeting Juno with a kiss on the cheek. “We’re taking Ruby.”

Juno groaned. “Fine, just gimme a minute to hide the Volvo in case the Khans get back before we do.” Juno first reached into the passenger seat and gave Peter a little jar of honey. They'd talked about Juno getting it to keep their cover and Peter was happy to see he remembered in all of his hunting. Peter tucked it into his truck to remember when he got back.

“I’ll be here,” Peter said. Juno rolled his eyes dramatically as he got back into the car and sped off, out of sight in no time. Peter was hardly alone for a few seconds before, suddenly, Juno was behind him.

“What are you standing around for? Let’s go,” Juno said and Peter fought back a yelp. He was normally very observant and was definitely not expecting Juno to just...pop up like that. Juno had a shit-eating grin on his face as he walked towards Ruby, so Peter couldn’t say it was all bad.

“How fast can you run?” Peter asked.

“I’ve never timed it out, I guess,” Juno said. “At least as fast as a car if I’m really trying.”

“You’ll have to show me sometime.”

Juno climbed into Ruby and, damn, he managed to still look good while driving a beat up truck. Peter climbed in after him, feeling a little strange being in the passenger seat after being only on the driver’s side for so long. Juno drove Ruby nearly the same as how he drove his Volvo, only Ruby couldn’t hit any higher than 50 miles per hour, and Juno showed his frustration with that fact on his face.

“You know, I had no idea how right I was about this damn truck,” Juno said, scowling down at the dashboard before looking back to the road.

“You have no taste, Juno,” Peter said. “Ruby’s a classic.”

“If that’s what you wanna call it.”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh as he rolled down the window on his side, letting the breeze flow by. It looked like the clouds were going to break up later, which was always a welcome sight. He severely missed the warmth, and it wasn’t all that cold today, so he would enjoy whatever he got. He peeked at Juno, focused on the road, and wondered once again what he looked like in the sun. Something about how it would make it obvious he was different, but Peter didn’t know what that meant. Whatever it was, it was enough for him to miss school. Peter looked forward to seeing it, maybe even as soon as today.

They enjoyed a silence together on the way to wherever the hell Juno was taking him. Peter couldn’t bring himself to care about where they were going. He would be happy going anywhere with Juno, didn’t matter what they did as long as he got to spend time with him. And the closer they got to their destination, Juno seemed to get more...excited.

Peter wasn’t sure if that was the right word for it, but it was close enough. Juno would rev the engine trying to get Ruby to go faster, but then she would make some concerning sound and he would be forced to slow down, that scowl deepening on his face. He tapped impatiently on the steering wheel, and took turns a little too sharply. Peter found it all rather endearing, especially considering the fact that Juno should be a perfect, undead creature without all of these ticks and tells. It was one of the many reasons he was completely enamored with Juno, sometimes he didn’t make any sense.

Finally, Juno pulled off on the side of the road. It looked like this place used to be some kind of trail head, but it had been neglected and ignored for a long time. Juno hopped out of the truck, pulling out a backpack Peter hadn’t noticed before with the telltale sound of a sloshing water bottle. It looked like they were going on a hike, then.

“Didn’t take you for the outdoorsy type,” Peter said, hopping out of the truck. He had wanted to try to take the backpack from Juno, but it seemed he was more than content to take the load. Peter wasn’t that much of a fan of going on hikes, but if Juno was excited, he was at least curious.

“It helps when you can get places quicker,” Juno said. “If you don’t wanna go, though, you don’t have to.”

“Well, it feels like a waste to come all this way and not see what has you so excited,” Peter said. “Take me where you will.”

“Alright, I hope you prepared for a hike,” Juno said.

“And here I was hoping you would carry me,” Peter teased. Juno just rolled his eyes and started in on the trail. It was so heavily covered with trees that they wouldn’t be able to see the sky. Peter could only hope that the sun would come out by the time they got out of tree cover. Still, being alone with Juno for so long was very appealing.


	12. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meadow scene. Enough said, really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

It was a few hours until they reached their destination. Juno eventually got them off the trail, saying that all the best stuff was off of it. Peter didn’t believe him, and tried spouting something about protecting the animals preserving nature, but Juno had that damn smile on his face and he was so giddy about it, Peter couldn’t bring himself to say no. Nothing came out of the woods to attack them, or even come near them. Birds seemed to take a wide berth and squirrels ran away from them on sight. Peter supposed it had something to do with self-preservation, maybe the animals could sense the kind of predator Juno was. Maybe he’d hunted around here enough for the animals to start taking notice.

It didn’t take all that long after breaking from the trail to reach Juno’s destination. Juno gave him directions every now and then as to where to step and things to avoid to keep himself from making a mess, but mostly he got quieter and quieter. Peter assumed that meant they were getting closer. Most of this walk, they hadn’t talked about much or enjoyed peaceful silences, which Peter very much enjoyed. Juno went as slow as Peter, who definitely didn’t want to break a sweat, so they were going at a very leisurely pace.

Finally, they came across a clearing. No...it was a meadow. It was small, perfectly round, and breathtakingly lovely. It was so full of wildflowers, Peter was a little afraid to step inside, and he could hear the music of a spring just a few feet away, hidden among the trees.

“I found this place a while ago,” Juno said, walking forward, towards it and nodding Peter in as well. “I come here when I’m looking for some peace and quiet.”

The sun was shining in the meadow and when Peter looked up, he saw that there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky to disrupt them, yet Juno looked like he didn’t mind. It was just the two of them out here, no one else for at least a few miles.

Peter decided to stay quiet as he walked closer with Juno. He seemed a little nervous, yes, but mostly relaxed. His shoulders untensed once the meadow came into view and it was like he’d let out a breath, even though he didn’t need to.

Finally, Juno stepped out into the sunlight and Peter felt like his own breath was taken away. It looked like entire galaxies lived on Juno’s skin, glittering stars covering just enough to still see the stunning canvas underneath. To say Juno glittered in the sunlight would give him a disservice. He glowed like a nebula, nearly blinding yet impossible to turn away from. Peter was immediately entranced, deciding in that moment that he would rather die than willingly look away, though he supposed that was the point.

“So, obviously this is why no one can see us in the sun.” Juno’s voice snapped Peter out of a bit of his trance, enough to step into the meadow and the sun with him. Peter found himself desperate for the sun to come out more to allow him a chance to look at Juno like this more often. What he wouldn’t give to be back in Arizona with Juno…

“You’re absolutely stunning, Juno,” Peter said finally. He relished the warmth the sun brought him, certainly, but that was an afterthought compared to the warmth he felt taking in Juno.

Juno laughed humorlessly at that, shaking his head.

“Yeah, that’s all kind of the thing, isn’t it?” Juno asked. “While you’re busy thinking about how gorgeous I am, I’ve got free access to kill you without you even trying to fight back.”

“Give me a little credit,” Peter said. “I’m not  _ that _ easily distracted by a pretty face, no matter what special effects it has.”

“And it doesn’t matter,” Juno said, and by the tone of his voice, Peter could tell he was about to go into another speech about how dangerous and tortured he was. It mattered a lot to Juno, though, and obviously bothered him, so Peter stood by and allowed it to happen. What he wasn’t expecting, though, was for Juno to practically vanish in front of his eyes.

No, that wasn’t quite right. He moved in a blur, nearly too fast to perceive, and stopped behind Peter, all the way on the other end of the meadow, in less than a second.

“You wouldn’t be able to outrun me,” Juno said, and ran in that impossible blur right behind Peter once again. “You wouldn’t be able to fight me off.”

Again, Juno ran to another end of the meadow, taking hold of a large, rotting trunk lodged in the ground. With a thick crack, he effortlessly pulled it up out of the ground, roots along with it. With just a flick of his arm, he tossed the whole thing into the forest, so far in that Peter couldn’t see it, but he heard it land heavily in the brush.

“Is this supposed to scare me?” Peter asked, admittedly a little breathless at the sight.

Juno ran once again, this time stopping right in front of Peter, and the speed of it made the wind rustle his hair a bit. He wasn’t out of breath, he wasn’t even tired, rather he just looked as poised and angsty as usual.

“Anyone with any kind of self-preservation would’ve turned tail the second they learned about this whole vampire thing,” Juno said. “I’m a killer, Peter. Literally everything about me is made to lure you in and then kill you easily. I’m a perfect predator. You’re the prey. The stupid prey that decided to go into a forest completely alone with a vampire without telling anyone about it.”

“We’ve been over this, I trust you” Peter said, carefully and slowly moving his hand up to trace over Juno’s face. Juno leaned into it, and Peter couldn’t help but admire Juno’s skin even more from this close. His glowing skin seemed to twinkle, constantly shifting. It was almost hard to look at him, nearly blinding, but Peter outright refused to. And there was a look in Juno’s eyes, sad and angry and lonely all at once. Juno had been alive for a long time, and while he had his family, he did seem to largely think that he was all on his own, a tortured, brooding vampire.

“And you really, really shouldn’t,” Juno said.

“Did you really drag me all the way out here so that you could warn me against being with you?” Peter asked. “Because I was led to believe we were here to enjoy each other’s company and have a lovely day.”

“Yeah. Right,” Juno said. “Sorry for bogging it down with, uh…”

“I will say that your concerns are valid, Juno,” Peter said. “But you also need to recognize that I’ve made my choice and it’s better to just make peace with that, if you can.”

“I know, I know, I just…” Juno sighed. “I want to make sure that’s an informed choice. You’ve...seen all of it that I’m capable of. At least, the stuff that you  _ can _ see.”

“And here I was so looking forward to watching you drain the blood of a poor animal,” Peter said jokingly. “I’ve seen what I’m getting myself into I’m not as fragile as you think. And while I’ll admit, what you can do is...terrifying, it’s also very…”

“Please don’t say sexy,” Juno pleaded, but he finally let loose a little laugh, relaxing again, so Peter counted it as a small victory.

“I was going to say attractive,” Peter said, allowing a laugh as well.

“My being able to kill you with ease really shouldn’t arouse you this much,” Juno said.

“If my number’s up, I might as well have fun with it,” Peter said. “Living life safely can be such a bore.”

“I guess,” Juno muttered.

“I trust you, Juno,” Peter said, before leaning down to place a quick kiss to Juno’s cheek. “So, any plans for us while we’re here in this meadow of yours, or was this just an excuse to get the two of us alone?” Peter hoped he got the message across that he was referring to something a bit more...exciting than getting hunted and killed by a vampire.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t looking for some way for us to get some time to ourselves,” Juno admitted, shyly. “But this was mostly to...share this place, I guess? With someone that I care about. Someone that’s not just my family and therefore forced to care about me.”

“Well, it is lovely,” Peter said, looking around it again before looking once again at the stunning image that was the glittering Juno. Stars, Peter could look at him like this for days and never grow tired of the image. He let himself get a little lost tracing imaginary constellations before remembering the moment he was in.

“I’m sorry for, uh, getting a little carried away back there,” Juno said, looking over to where he’d tossed the tree trunk.

“It is nice to be able to see all of you,” Peter said. “And I do mean that, dear. All of you.”

“Even all the shitty, self-absorbed whiney parts?” Juno scoffed.

“Now that line sounds like it’s straight from one of your siblings.”

“That one was Vespa, actually,” Juno said with another little laugh. “And she’s one to talk. Honestly you should hear her sometimes when she’s really low. If you think I’m bad, she’s a whole other level.” His voice took on that tone when he got distracted on a train of thought, rising in intensity without noticing, babbling and relaxed in a way that was entirely Juno. ”And sure she’s had it pretty rough but Buddy has this whole thing about how no one’s trauma is any worse than anyone else’s and respecting each other and our stories or some bullshit.”

“And what’s Vespa’s roll in your family?” Peter asked. The more he thought about Juno’s strange family, the more some of it rang distant bells in his memory, ones that he couldn’t quite place, but he felt very close. Like he should recognize these people, but he hadn’t put the pieces together yet.

“Uh…” Juno thought for a long moment. “I don’t know, really. Buddy’s kinda taken on the ‘therapy mom’ moniker or whatever but she says she doesn’t like it. If you’re going by age, Buddy, Vespa, and Jet are the only ones who were over 20 when they died, but… I dunno, siblings is the best word I’ve got for Alessandra, Mick, Sashsa, and Rita, but the others are a little complicated. Awkward aunts and uncle?”

Peter hummed and looked around the meadow for a bit before he decided to sit down, pulling Juno gently along with him. He felt a little bad to sit on some of the wildflowers but it was worth it to have a chance to just sit and take in the sun.

“What’s it like having such a big family?” Peter asked eventually.

“I mean, that’s a question for you,” Juno joked. “What’re the Khans at now? Like 20?”

“I haven’t counted,” Peter said. “But I meant family that you’re close to. My upbringing had a very...small circle that I considered family. What’s it like having so many people?”

“Well,” Juno thought for a bit before answering fully. “It’s tough, because we kinda have to be close? We’re the only vampires for a pretty wide radius and we did that for a reason, not a lot of our kind are...into our lifestyle choice. And we don’t really talk to anyone else.”

“Which I think is more of a choice than a necessity,” Peter interjected.

“I came from kind of a small family, too,” Juno said. “Just me, my ma, and Ben. And, I mean, this whole situation with Buddy started out small but we’ve kept...adding people. So it’s been a slow thing. Kinda like a frog in boiling water or whatever.”

“Added people?” Peter asked, hoping not to pry but genuinely very curious.

“Buddy’s got this habit of trying to save people on their last legs,” Juno said. “You don’t have to be dying to become a vampire I mean, you die on the way to being a vampire, but you don’t have to be actively dying for the venom to work. That’s just how Buddy is.. Apparently if she comes across some dying teenager in a ditch, she can’t leave well enough alone.”

“So she saved you all?” Peter tried.

Juno laughed. “If that’s what you wanna call it. She found me dying in a ditch after being beat to hell, and everyone has their own stories that aren’t really mine to tell. Long story short, all of us should’ve died young, mostly for stupid actions, and Buddy came down like some kind of angel of death and brought us back.”

Peter leaned his shoulder against Juno’s. “Well, I’m glad she did. Without your second life, we never could have met.”

“Yeah, you got that right,” Juno said, leaning into him as well. “And while that would certainly be safer for you...I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“Well, isn’t that nice?” Peter said lightly. “An actual confession of happiness from Juno Steel.”

“Shut up,” Juno said, bumping his shoulder lightly and laughing.

“You know,” Peter said, admiring the meadow at length once again, “if I had known you were such a romantic at heart, I might have tried to woo you like this much sooner.”

“I’m not a romantic,” Juno said, but he said it in that unsure tone of voice, like he’d never put much thought into it before but now that he was, it made a lot of sense.

“I’m sure you wax poetic in the dead of night,” Peter teased. “Are you even really a vampire if you don’t constantly read soliloquies at midnight?”

“Yeah, keep that in mind until you meet the rest of my family and get back to me if you really still think that,” Juno said. “Out of everyone, I think only Rita would do that, and even then it would only be ‘for the drama of it all’.” He said the last part with a slight accent, more eccentric and jokingly excited, and Peter could only assume what Rita was actually like to get an impression like that.

Peter closed his eyes as a breeze blew through the meadow, enjoying the heat of the sun on him, the freshness of the air, and even the terribly cold body pressed up against him. This was quite nice, and he wasn’t all that keen on giving it up anytime soon. He nearly wished that he could spend the rest of his life just like this, a shining Juno at his side, both of them resting at at peace in a gorgeous meadow. And the thought occurred to him that if he was a vampire, he could.

He filed that thought away, for future consideration.

Peter nearly fell asleep there, sitting in either the comfortable silence or the casual conversation, and it was nice. For a while, it was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Peter’s past didn’t exist, all the stress of the present didn’t exist, and Peter’s questionable future certainly didn’t exist. All that mattered was that the two of them were there, in the moment, enjoying each other.

Suddenly, when Peter opened his eyes, Juno was no longer shimmering and he sat up, looking at the sky. The sun was nearly set, and they’d spent the whole day here in the meadow. Peter knew that he should have felt bad about wasting his day away, but all he felt was a little sad that there weren’t more hours in the day to spend like this.

“We should probably start heading back,” Peter said, stretching out. “I don’t want to slow you down by tripping over my shadows on the trail while the sun goes down.”

“Oh, uh, actually, I was thinking I could just...run us back,” Juno said. “I figured you wanted to spend a lot of time here, so we could take the easy way back.”

“Tempting,” Peter said. “How long do you think it would take us to get back?”

“A few minutes, max,” Juno said. “Maybe just one if I feel like showing off.”

“I do love it when you show off for me,” Peter said. “What’s it like?”

Juno hesitated before he stood up, holding out his hand for Peter. “How about you hop on and find out?”

Peter didn’t need another invitation, taking the hand. Juno effortlessly pull him to his feet and then Juno started helping him onto his back. It was an awkward, hunched thing with Peter so much taller than him, but Juno stood as if Peter didn’t weigh anything.

“Okay, some tips,” Juno said, stepping towards the trees while Peter adjusted his grip. “Close your eyes, it genuinely helps. You can hold on as tight or loose as you want, I won’t let go of you. And...uh...it’ll feel a lot better when we stop. You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Peter said, holding his arms tight around Juno’s shoulders. Regardless of what Juno said, and how he felt like a living statue, holding on tight made it seem like this all had a difference. Truth be told, Peter was excited. He’d seen how fast Juno could run and just the idea of going that fast was thrilling.

He was not at all prepared for how it actually felt, though. Peter nearly didn’t notice it all at first, eyes obediently held shut. At first, it felt like just a stronger gust of wind,and then a strange sense of vertigo hit him like a truck. Peter tightened his grip, nuzzling further into Juno, who audibly laughed. Peter fought the urge to knock his head with a fist.

And then Peter made the dumb decision to open his eyes. He was curious, sue him. What he was met with was a nauseating blur of green and brown that his brain failed to compute and put into an accurate picture, and the overwhelming need to vomit. So, Peter immediately shut his eyes once again and gripped Juno even tighter still. It was almost nice with his eyes closed, though, the wind just as constant as Juno’s strong body under his grasp.

It stopped entirely too soon. They’d traveled miles, apparently, in such a short amount of time and Juno was still once again. Peter chanced opening his eyes and, sure enough, they were standing in front of Ruby’s green cab.

“You were right, that was fast,” Peter said, resting his head on Juno’s shoulder and not releasing him even slightly. “I’m sorry I made the trek up so slow.”

“It was nice,” Juno said. “Like stopping to smell the roses or whatever.”

“Perhaps,” Peter said. Reluctantly, Peter brought his legs down, but he kept his arms loosely circled around Juno’s neck. In no time at all, Juno turned around, still in Peter’s arms, to look up at him through those damn intoxicating eye lashes of his.

They stared at each other like that for a while, Peter keeping Juno close and wordlessly staring at each other while the sun set around them. Peter had almost been afraid that Juno would look boring now, in comparison to his appearance in the sun, but he was still just as stunning as the day Peter had first seen him, even more so now that that sour look had turned into that soft gaze of his.

“Could I…” Juno paused for a moment, thinking, before he continued. “Could I try something?”

“Try whatever you like,” Peter said. “I doubt I won’t like it.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Juno rolled his eyes before he moved his own arms up to encircle Peter’s neck, hands on his nape and them slowly moving to run through his hair. It sent a pleasant tingle down Peter’s spine and Peter hummed contentedly.

And then, almost entirely too slow but at the same time faster than a human would be capable of, Juno leaned forward and captured Peter’s lips in a kiss. It was a quick, daring peck, testing the waters in a desperate way. Peter had known just how hard and cold Juno’s lips would be, knew how soft and careful they were elsewhere on his face, but the tingle they spread through his own lips was something else all together.

Juno pulled back just as soon as he started, but he stayed just a hair’s breadth away, and those eyes looked up at him, wordlessly asking a question, one that Peter was all too eager to answer.

Peter nearly pulled Juno off his feet with the force he kissed Juno back. Before they could get very far, however, Peter’s classes got caught between their faces, nearly coming off of his face as they went askew, pushing painfully into the bridge of Peter’s nose.

Peter pulled away. “Terribly sorry,” he said with a small laugh, pulling the crooked glasses onto the top of his head before pulling Juno in once again, this time free of the barrier on Peter’s face.

Kissing Juno felt...right. It felt like puzzle pieces coming together, finally finding their homes after so long apart. Interestingly, Juno, despite his age, wasn’t all that experienced a kisser. Not that Peter minded in the least, it was just a fascinating observation. Before long, Juno had pulled Peter until they were pressed up against Ruby, more than content to keep Peter as close as possible, and plenty eager to make up for whatever he lacked in experience. And Peter was equally eager to give back, moving his hands to Juno’s back to get more of him closer.

It was still odd, getting used to the way Juno  _ felt _ . Like the softest stone Peter had ever felt. Cold as death, but moving with such a fire inside, Peter could practically feel it. And this close, it was white hot.

And then it seemed Juno got too excited because suddenly those hands were on Peter’s chest, firmly but carefully pushing him away, before Juno ran, full speed, to the other side of Ruby, leaving Peter alone and...colder than he felt before.

“Sorry,” Juno blurted out. “I just…”

“No, I, uh, I understand,” Peter said, pulling himself together as much as he could. Normally he wasn’t used to these things ending so...abruptly. “Too much too fast.”

“No, I…” Juno paused, running a hand through his hair nervously. “I don’t want to...hurt you. I could get carried away and all it would take is one slip-up. I’m not gonna do that to you.”

“So we take it slow,” Peter offered. “I’m perfectly okay with that.”

“Yeah. Slow.” Juno had a bit of a frown on his face, and it was obvious he wasn’t exactly happy with the compromise. Juno’s actions before were a very clear indication of how he  _ wanted _ things to happen. But Peter was fragile. It was disappointing, yes, but it was something Peter could deal with. Still, it added one more tally into the “Pros of Being a Vampire” column he was keeping.

“I think we should probably get me home,” Peter said. He had no idea what time it was, but the sun had officially set. “I have no idea when the Khans will be getting back and I don’t want them to worry.”

“Of course, yeah,” Juno said, walking towards Ruby’s cab. “I’ll uh, I’ll drive.”

“Sure,” Peter said. “And just because we’re going home doesn’t mean we have to stop, Juno.”

Juno finally smiled again at that, opening the door and climbing inside the truck. Peter followed shortly after. And he was more than excited to continue this day with Juno, drawbacks and all.


	13. Mind Over Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is it with gays and having heartfelt conversations in cars?

“So, tell me more about this family of yours,” Peter said as Juno started the drive back, dark forests surrounding them on all sides.

“What about them?” Juno asked.

“Anything,” Peter said. Then, curiosity got the better of him. “Tell me more about Buddy and Vespa.”

Juno shrugged. “I dunno, they get so sappy all the time I kind of just tune it out. They were together for a while, got into a really tough spot and they thought they both died. Turns out they both just got turned into vampires. I was there for the meetup. It was...sappy.”

“Which I’m sure you loved,” Peter teased. Juno growled at him, so Peter added, “Secretly.”

“Whatever,” Juno said. “Uh, short story of the entire family I guess is that Buddy got turned, was left alone and got really depressed for a while. Met Jet, who managed to get her to pull her shit together. They found and turned me. We found Vespa. And then we found and turned Sasha, Mick, Rita, then Alessandra. We’ve all been together since the 70s. We’re definitely not the most functional family, sure, but it’s way healthier than any other family dynamic I’ve been in.”

“And none of them like me?” Peter asked.

“I mean Mick and Rita are kinda excited about this whole forbidden love thing,” Juno said. “But other than that, yeah, no one else is happy about this situation. If it makes you feel any better, they’re mostly saying I’m the dumb one for endangering everyone.”

“Any way I could try to change their minds?”

Juno laughed. “The harder you try with these people, the more they’re gonna push back on that one. None of them are really sold on Rex Glass being your real name, either, just so you know. I haven’t told them your name, but they’re starting to wonder.”

“And I’m immensely glad you’re the only one that can read minds,” Peter said.

“Yeah, and Sasha normally doesn’t get detailed shit like that from her visions,” Juno said. “So you’re mostly safe, I’m guessing.”

“Has she had any visions about me?” Peter asked.

“Normally, she only gets them for people she really knows,” Juno said. “Otherwise she’d just be constantly seeing shit. She’s had a few of...me. Us? I guess. I dunno. She never tells me, I normally have to read her mind to get anything out of her. And it’s been fine. Awkward as hell to see it from a distance, but fine. None of the bullshit everyone’s worried about.”

“And what’s everyone worried about? That I’ll tell the whole world your secret?”

“No, mostly they’re worried this is gonna end up with you dead, sucked dry, and then the whole town figures us out and we have to move and maybe get chased around by some other vampire covens for a bit.”

“Oh, that’s...lovely to think about.”

“But according to Sasha’s visions, which always happen unless someone changes their minds, which hasn’t happened yet and she’ll still see anyway, everything’s fine.”

“Well, I trust you not to suck me dry, if that’s worth anything.”

“Maybe it’s worth a little.”

They were quiet for a while together, Peter gazing out the window at the passing trees, slowly getting coated in shadows.

“If you, uh, feel up to it,” Juno said carefully, “I think I wanna return the favor you did me a few days ago and tell you a bit more about myself.”

Peter most certainly felt up to it, but he resisted the urge to physically jump at the opportunity to hear more about Juno. He quite liked this trend of theirs to have heart-to-heart conversations in cars. He did shift a little closer to Juno, nodding at him to go ahead whenever he was ready.

Juno kept his eyes forward, only occasionally looking at Peter out of the corner of his eye. Eventually, he took a breath to steady himself and Peter refrained from commenting on the lack of necessity of it.

“Well, I guess you know the basics of it, at least at the start,” Juno said. “It was me, Ma, and Ben. Most of the time, it was me and Ben. Ma tried, especially at the start, but there was a limit to how long she could try and...she got bad. Uh, I guess I should start with where we lived? I grew up in New York City, grew up with World War II kind of just always in the background. Everyone was expected to work when they could, and yeah, there were  _ laws _ about children working, but no one really  _ followed _ them. Especially when Ma got bad when Ben and I hit 4...we took whatever jobs came our way. Selling papers, running deliveries, helping out people in their houses. Older we got, the more people took us up on our offers. And we did pretty okay for ourselves. Most of what we made went to Ma and her...habits, but we kept some to ourselves. Ben got a habit of saving most of his share, said he was saving up to get us a way out, far away. He was always more of a dreamer than I was.”

Peter tried to imagine what Ben Steel must have been like. A visual match to Juno, yes, but from what detail he could get on occasion, he was a brighter, happier child. And for a moment, Peter tried to imagine Juno with an easy smile on his face, a relaxed and open stance, and from what Juno had let slip, a love of dance. And Peter could only imagine the hardships the pair of them faced together.

“As I got older, I figured out I had a knack for poking my nose where it wasn’t welcome,” Juno continued. “And more importantly, I learned I could make money off of it. Not a lot of people were interested in hiring a 10-year-old PI, sure, but when all the able-bodied men were shoved in the war, and no one would be suspicious of a kid following people, I started gaining a reputation. Ben started taking to the streets, dancing when he could to ask for money, but otherwise he got pretty good at picking pockets, too.”

Juno paused for a moment, and they watched a few cars drive by in the opposite lane, their headlights bright in the darkness.

“We really thought we were going to get out of there. We had a pretty good few years. Got good at avoiding Ma when she was really bad, learned the right places to avoid, and the right places to go. We weren’t exactly doing great, sure, but it was okay. War ended, more people came home, jobs were a lot harder to find. The law started caring a lot more about kids again, demanded we go into school, all that bullshit. Ben and I kept our heads down. Sounds dumb to say it now, but we couldn’t just leave Ma to her own devices. Without us bringing anything in...I dunno what would’ve happened to her.”

Peter watched as Juno’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.

Juno cleared his throat before going forward. “Uh, the day I died was...bad. I was getting myself wrapped up in a really dangerous gig, some guy’s cousin was getting wrapped up with a gang and he wanted to see if there was some way out of it. He wanted me to sneak into the gang’s warehouse and get evidence, which was like signing my own death warrant. I was doing my best without going into the warehouse, but I was hitting a dead end.

“When I got home, Ma was drinking on the couch...and I didn’t see Ben. She gave some dumb excuse about how she thought he’d taken her meds, but that wasn’t what mattered.” Juno’s voice shook when he continued. “She said she thought he was me. Should’ve been me. She, uh...she shot him. Killed him...hours before I got there.”

Peter was speechless. He knew whatever was in Juno’s past was certainly not good, but he’d hoped all of that had happened to him at least later in his life. Nothing was worse than dealing with a death from that close at that young and being completely alone at the other end of it. There was, of course, an urge to tell Juno that he was sorry, but he knew well enough to hold his tongue.

“I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my life,” Juno said. “I did a lot of stupid shit before that happened, and I’ve done a lot of stupid shift after...but I’m pretty sure what I did after that was the dumbest choice I’ve ever made. Right after I saw Ben there, I ran. Ma didn’t even call out to me. It was already dark out and I was so...angry. I needed to do something, anything, to just get away and be productive. I went right to the gang’s hideout, some really shitty pistol I’d stolen a few weeks back in hand. I don’t know what I expected to get done there. Maybe I just wanted them to kill me, too.

“I managed to sneak inside alright, but I was careless. They caught me in there within minutes. And I was dumb enough to have gone in there with all the info I had on them. Names of everyone I knew in the gang, all their contacts, photo evidence of some of their back alley deals. The name of my  _ client _ .” Juno laughed, but there wasn’t any humor in it. “They didn’t even need to question me. They didn’t waste any time. I was just a kid, no one was gonna miss me, they could do whatever they wanted to me.

“And they did. They beat the hell out of me. From what I can remember, they’d had a pretty bad day. A deal went sour, they had a lot of pent up rage to let out. I was the perfect target. Just ten thugs and one idiot teenager who got way in over his head because he lost his cool. They didn’t even wait to see if I was dead before they threw me in with the garbage out back. I’m sure they were going to send one of their cleaners to move me in the morning, before the garbage got picked up, but they wanted me to die out there. I couldn’t move, I’m pretty sure they broke every bone I had, and I was bleeding out of every place that could get blood out.

“And then Buddy and Jet found me.”

Peter knew they were getting close to the Khans’ house, but he didn’t want to break this moment. Juno was closed off, yes, but he was never a completely closed book. He showed his wounds on occasion, as if daring anyone to come close, warning them away from him. But he never delved much deeper than that. Peter counted himself lucky that Juno trusted him enough to open up like this, no matter how much it hurt to remember.

“Turning into a vampire is...the most painful thing that I’ve ever been through,” Juno said. “Something about vampire venom, Buddy’s told me about it before, but I never listen. But I’ll tell you, not even the beating I got before hand or the kick in the gut I got at seeing Ben could even come close to what that was like. I didn’t keep track of the time, but Jet told me I was out for two days for the transformation.”

Peter shuddered at the thought, silently placing that fact into the “cons” column for becoming a vampire. He noticed Juno take a turn that lead them down a different neighborhood than the Khan household, probably to make them take a bit longer to get there, which Peter was grateful for.

“I...wasn’t the most grateful person in the world when I woke up,” Juno admitted. “I...I don’t think this way  _ now _ , but at the time...I wished I’d stayed dead. That was the whole reason I ran over to that gang. Some deluded part of me was convinced I might be able to see Ben again if I did all of it, but...no. That ship’s sailed for me. I was so...mad at Buddy, at Jet, at Ma, at myself, at everyone. And here’s the thing about being a newborn vampire, you’ve got no control over yourself. You’ve got your human blood fresh in your veins. You’ll never be more powerful that first year, and you’ll never be thirstier. I was in a city surrounded by people and Buddy was trying to convince me to eat squirrels and I already wasn’t inclined to listen to her.

“I’m not proud of what I did in that year. I mean, I am a little proud of the way I killed off all of the people I knew in that gang. That felt great, I’m not gonna lie. Didn’t leave them in the trash, though, no one deserves that. There’s a ton of vampires in New York City. Lot of food supply, no one cares if you only come out at night...makes a lot of sense. I got myself wrapped up with someone named Valles Vickey. No idea if she’s even still alive, or...whatever you wanna call this. Still, she had this whole army of vampires and I was so  _ angry _ , I didn’t care where I was pointed as long as I could hurt everyone else as much as I was hurting.

“There were a lot of newborns in that army with me and we weren’t exactly under tight control. Lotta fights broke out. When you turn into a vampire, you become ‘perfect’ or whatever. All wounds heal, you get good posture and shit, it’s a lot. Once you become a vampire, the only thing that can hurt you, that can leave a scar, is another vampire’s venom. When you’re in an army like that, scars become trophies. Scars mean someone put their teeth in you but you fought them off before they ripped off a limb. That’s...where all of these came from.” Juno vaguely pointed over his body.

“Eventually,” Juno said, now turning onto the street with the Khans’ house, meaning his story was coming to an end, “I came back to Buddy. Had a lot of bodies, human and vampire alike, behind me. But I was a lot less angry and she told me when I left the first time that she was going to stick around for me. Maybe I just wanted somewhere to lick my wounds in safety, I’m still not all that sure. Buddy’s terms were clear; no feeding from humans, no more bringing so much attention to myself, and we were getting out of New York. I was pretty happy with that last one.

“Last thing I did before we left, I tried to find out where Ben was buried. Found his tombstone right next to Ma’s. Still don’t really know what happened to her, but I think I prefer it that way. I’m also still not sure if being buried next to her was what Ben would’ve wanted, but just in case, I didn’t do anything in that graveyard. What he did or didn’t want doesn’t really matter now.”

Juno put Ruby into park right in front of the house, but they were just out of the way of the kitchen window. It was dark enough outside that it would be hard to spot them and no kids were outside. All of the lights were on in the house and Peter could see some of the kids helping out in the kitchen already.

“Changing over to eating from animals was kinda hard, I’ll admit,” Juno continued. “But until very recently, it didn’t bother me all that much. We came across everyone else in the decades after. I didn’t turn any of them. I definitely wouldn’t be able to control myself to do it.”

“What does it take to turn someone?” Peter asked curiously. He hadn’t spoken for the entirety of Juno’s story, but he couldn’t help his own curiosity.

“You gotta get into the bloodstream to do it,” Juno said. “It’s all in the venom, or whatever you wanna call it. It’s near impossible for a vampire to control themself once they get a taste of blood. Everything in you screams to just drink until there’s nothing left. But if you leave someone alive while you’ve got your venom in there, they’re gonna turn.”

“Well, Juno,” Peter said, carefully taking hold of Juno’s closest hand now that he was done driving. “Thank you for telling me that. It seems we’ve both seen our fair share of tragedy.”

“What a pair we make, huh?” Juno asked, smiling softly and staring at their entwined hands.

“I hope you know that I certainly don’t think any less of you,” Peter said.

“I...killed a lot of people, Peter,” Juno said.

“So have I,” Peter offered. “Perhaps not quite as much as you, but I do know what it’s like to have a body count. You didn’t go anywhere after learning what I’ve done, the least I can do is return the favor.”

Juno let out a small huff of a laugh. “Thanks. It feels good to get it off my chest every now and then. Buddy’s not  _ really _ a therapist, and I’ve told her, but I haven’t really told everyone else. They know vague details, but…”

“It feels good to talk about it,” Peter agreed. Most importantly, it felt good to talk about it to someone who understood, someone who had been through something similar, who really knew what it was like to go through what they did.

“Yeah,” Juno said. “So...thanks for listening.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Peter repeated, leaning forward to kiss Juno lightly. Juno offered him a slight smile in return. “How hard would it be for you to sneak into my room?” Peter asked curiously. It was a shift in mood, certainly, but he could guess they had a limited amount of time before the Khans noticed him and he would need to go inside. But he didn’t want his time with Juno to end.

“Not,” Juno said, then added jokingly. “It’d take like a second, really. This would definitely be the lowest security place I’ve ever broken into.”

“And you will have to tell me more about that as soon as possible, love,” Peter said, leaning in to kiss Juno’s cheek, happy to see some levity in Juno about the situation. “I’ll see you up there? Do you know which one is mine?”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to pick your room out from a lineup of a bunch of kids rooms,” Juno said. “See you up there.”

They both left Ruby at the same time and Juno tossed Peter the keys before vanishing into the night. Knowing him, he was probably already up in Peter’s room. With a light hum, Peter walked into the house, a dozen kids immediately running up to him to report on how many fish they did or didn’t catch. It took him about 10 minutes to wade through them before he got through them to the kitchen, where Noor was already working on a fish recipe. Khan noticed him first between the two of them, looking up from the freezer where he was arranging some of their catches. It looked like they were going to be eating fish only for the foreseeable future.

“Oh, Rex, good to see you home,” Khan said. “You, uh, have a good time in Seattle?”

“Oh, yes, it was lovely,” Peter lied easily, putting the promised honey on the counter to solidify the lie. “And I’m afraid my trip left me a bit tired. I ate on the way back, would it be too terribly rude of me to just head up to bed?”

“Oh, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well,” Noor immediately swept towards him and Peter deftly dodged out of the way of her hand trying to take his temperature. Something about such a tender act made panic rise in his throat.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine after some sleep,” Peter said.

“Of course, do what you need to, dear,” Noor said, always nice and politely ignoring Peter’s dodge.

It took another five minutes before Peter was able to make his way through the swarm of excited kids that wanted to chat his ear off. He sighed with relief when he finally closed the door of his dark room, quickly turning on the light and turning into the room. Juno was sitting, cross-legged on his bed, looking around his room.

“You don’t have a lot of stuff, do you?” Juno asked.

“I didn’t come with a lot of stuff,” Peter replied, sitting beside Juno. He was going to ask if it was alright to lean against Juno, but Juno quickly took the initiative and leaned against him, fitting his head into the crook of Peter’s shoulder. 

“You’ve been here for a while,” Juno said. “What’s stopping you from getting some?”

Peter thought for a moment on how he should respond to a question like that. He knew the reason, of course. It had shifted with time, sure, but it had mostly stayed the same. But did he really want to tell Juno about his plans?

“I...wasn’t planning on staying,” Peter said. When Juno didn’t react, Peter took hold of one of his hands and kept going. “I was mostly planning on using Forks as a jumping off point. To get as far away from the mistake of Phoenix as possible.”

“Was?”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh. “Best laid plans and all that, I suppose.”

“So, what was it?” Juno asked. “What about Forks sold you? Please don’t say it was me.”

“No, not you, at least not entirely. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to get here and have a group of people so willing to just...adopt me, I suppose. The Khans are far more than I deserve. They’re the ones I feel the worst about if I were to go through with my plan to...disappear.”

“And are you still going to?” Juno asked, sitting upright to look Peter in the eye.

“I...don’t know. I feel like I have some time to come up with an answer to that. I can disappear whenever I want to, certainly, but once I do it, I can’t take it back. I think...I would prefer some time to think on it.”

Peter hadn’t really noticed until he had told Noor, but he was genuinely tired. And, embarrassingly, he couldn’t suppress a yawn as it bubbled in his throat. Maybe he still hadn’t fully recovered from their hike with that little nap of his.

“Do you want me to head out?” Juno asked.

“I would always prefer that you stay,” Peter said.

“Always is a strong word,” Juno said. “But if you want me to stay, I wouldn’t mind. But you’re gonna have to sleep. I’m not just gonna sit around while you force yourself to stay awake.”

“And that won’t be terribly boring for you?” Peter asked.

“I haven’t fallen asleep with someone next to me in...a long time,” Juno said. “I think even just faking it would be nice.”

“And you say you’re not a romantic.”

Peter carefully placed a peck on Juno’s lips, lingering for a short while after to check and make sure Juno had been okay with it. When it seemed that Juno wasn’t about to stop him, Peter kissed him again, and Juno kissed him back.

It was calmer than before, less urgent, less new. Juno kissed him like he had all the time in the world to do it, and Peter was more than willing to give it. Juno often forgot that Peter did, in fact, need to breathe, but neither of them were all that discouraged by him occasionally breaking off for breath. And Peter honestly didn’t mind when Juno had to pull back, muttering something about patience.

And then Peter had to yawn.

“Go to sleep, Peter,” Juno said with a slight laugh. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” Peter asked, mostly teasing.

“Promise,” Juno said. “Now get into some pajamas or something.”

“Juno, how forward,” Peter teased. “If I’d’ve known you were ready to see me naked, I would’ve done it sooner.”

Juno made that face again, the one where it looked like he would blush if he had the blood to do it, before shaking his head and laying on Peter’s bed, facing away from Peter’s closet. Peter got ready for bed as fast as possible. By the time he turned back to the bed, Juno had already pulled aside the comforter. Peter kissed him one more time before settling into bed, yawning once again.

It took some figuring between the two of them to figure out the right position. Juno kept pressing that he didn’t feel discomfort, but that didn’t stop Peter from demanding that he be in as comfortable a position as possible. And it took a bit of effort, but Peter finally managed to be comfortable and warm while still pressed up against Juno’s body as much as possible. It certainly helped that Juno was so soft, despite all the hardness.

Peter didn’t even notice when he fell asleep in Juno’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading! Do you ever just think about how easy it is not to stalk the person you have a crush on and watch them sleep without their knowledge? Juno certainly does, while he chugs his respect Peter juice.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much to everyone leaving comments! I might be too awkward and shy to interact with you directly, but I really appreciate every kind word you have to say!


	14. The Aurinkos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juno and Peter meet the families.

Waking up in Juno Steel’s arms certainly had its perks. Peter could only imagine what it would be like, had he been warm and soft like a living body, but there was something comforting and secure about his strong arms around him. Yes, Peter was a tad cold, but he wouldn’t never admit that out loud and make Juno feel insecure. He wanted to stay in the sleepy haze with Juno, relaxing in the morning, for as long as possible, but Juno was far too quick to notice Peter’s waking.

“Hey there,” Juno said, not even a hint of sleepiness in his voice. Peter grumbled sleepily, unwilling to commit to words until he had at least another hour to lie in bed. “Figured you wouldn’t be a morning person. Sleep well?”

Peter grumbled again, sending Juno a half-hearted glare to show he didn’t intend to have any kind of conversation. He still felt half-asleep and would give anything to fall back asleep, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards.

“You had a nightmare or two in there, you feeling okay?”

That got Peter’s attention and he turned to face Juno fully.

His first attempt at words came out a gravelly mess and he had to stop to clear his throat and shake his head before trying again.

“How could you tell?” he asked.

“You make this face,” Juno mused,”get a little restless...you...might have said a few things.”

“Good lord,” Peter grumbled. He couldn’t remember anything from his dreams, he couldn’t most of the time, but he could only guess the kinds of nightmares he had.

“Nothing too bad,” Juno said. “Best guess is some bad memories.”

A flash of sticky red blood entered Peter’s memory and he figured out the rest from there. So Juno had seem him deal with that mess yet again…

“On the bright side,” Juno said, trying to move away from the awkward conversation, “you still managed to look pretty handsome while you were drooling on my shirt.”

Peter groaned, rolling over again, and he shoved a pillow in Juno’s general direction, hoping it would get him to shut up. Juno laughed, quickly batting away Peter’s attempt at a shield.

“I can see you were lonely while I was asleep,” Peter grumbled. “How long have you been coming up with something to say to me?”

“Eh, I’ve had a few hours,” Juno said absently. “And I was thinking…”

“And I’ve learned how dangerous that can be,” Peter said. With a huff, he picked up his glasses from the nightstand so he could get a proper look at Juno, still just as stunning and perfect as when Peter went to sleep. Which made him all the more aware of his incredibly likely bedhead situation.

“I think I should take you to meet my family,” Juno said. Peter froze, trying to process what, exactly, Juno was saying. The idea of meeting Juno’s family sent a thrill down his spine, for better or worse he couldn’t quite tell yet.

“I think it’s a touch too early for a conversation like that,” Peter said. He leaned forward to place a quick peck on Juno’s cheek when he frowned. “Give me a moment in the shower to wake up? We’ll talk about it when I’m back.”

“Right, yeah,” Juno said, a little sheepishly. It was very likely he’d forgotten about human needs like sleep in his time as a vampire, and didn’t even think to give Peter enough time to wake up.

Peter quickly scooped up the first clothes he spotted before ducking out into the hallway. Apparently, it was early enough that only a small handful of kids were awake, and they were all downstairs with Noor and Omar, so he had an easy enough time taking over the bathroom. He always tried to make sure not to take up too much time out of politeness. Still, he had to take a few moments to make sure he really was awake, taking extra time to splash water in the sink even after he was mostly dried off.

Juno wanted him to meet his family. Finally, the thought really hit him as he stared at the mirror. Juno wanted to take him into a coven of vampires to meet his family, who hated Peter. Well, the majority of them hated Peter. And the idea really did thrill him. Despite everything, Peter found himself genuinely  _ wanting _ to go.

Peter would never admit out loud how fast he scurried back to his room, now much more pulled together and ready to face the day and the vampire still lying in his bed comfortably.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to invite me over?” Peter asked, trying to sound calm and conversational despite his excitement at the idea of it all.

“I mean, nothing about this whole arrangement is a good idea,” Juno said. “If we were going off of good ideas, you would’ve stopped talking to me when I first tried to shake you off.”

“And we’re all very glad I didn’t,” Peter said, placing a peck on Juno’s forehead before he tossed his towel in the direction of his hamper. “They all hate me, though, right?”

“Give me a few hours with them,” Juno said. “I could maybe convince Buddy it’s a good idea to have you over. Rita can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be and she likes you well enough. How about I swing by a little later and bring you up?”

“Oh, you want it to be today?” Peter asked.

“I just thought…” Juno hesitated now that he noticed Peter’s concern. “I dunno, I just… You don’t have to. I just think it would be nice. You know, do the sappy romantic shit like meet the families or whatever.”

“And do you think you’re brave enough to meet Captain Khan?” Peter asked. He could only imagine the kind of hell Khan would raise if Peter introduced any kind of partner to him. He at least had the protective father thing down for if any of the other kids got into dating. It did make it rather intimidating for Peter to even imagine introducing Juno.

“He might be intimidating,” Juno said, “but I think it’s fair on both sides.”

“You have to meet everyone, then,” Peter said. “Khan, Noor, and all of the kids.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Juno said. “But I’ll accept the challenge. How about I come back around 5? That’s enough time to prep everyone back home.”

“Does this mean you’re leaving?” Peter asked, feigning a pout, though it wasn’t all that difficult, really. He didn’t want Juno to leave, but he knew they would have to separate eventually. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to it.

“I mean...soon,” Juno said.

“Soon means...not now, though,” Peter argued, leaning over Juno and then down to kiss him lightly. “Could I convince you to stay for just a little longer?”

“I could be convinced,” Juno mused, holding onto the back of Peter’s neck to keep him close and kiss him again. “What do you have to persuade me?”

“Well, I would offer a warm bed and some cuddles, but something tells me that doesn’t appeal to you as much as I would hope,” Peter teased.

“No, no, I think cuddles are perfectly convincing,” Juno said. Suddenly, he pulled Peter down enough that he lost his footing, causing Peter to fall practically on top of Juno, if it weren’t for Juno’s strong, controlled hands keeping him from crashing. Instead, Juno effortlessly, and inhumanly quickly, flipped them around so that Peter was on his back with Juno over him.

“Well, that’s hardly fair,” Peter said. He captured Juno’s lips in a kiss once again, coaxing him down so that they were even closer. “Is this alright with you?”

“It really shouldn’t be,” Juno said. “But, here we are.”

“Here we are indeed.”

* * *

After a few hours, Juno did leave. Peter did everything in his power to delay it, which was exactly why it took hours to happen. Peter hadn’t really anticipated that strange empty feeling for when Juno was gone, but he supposed he could file that away for later, at least for the time being. He had to admit he was having quite a lot of fun with Juno and overthinking their situation seemed like the worst choice.

Granted, he could be thinking about it a bit more, but that was a problem to deal with later.

Still, he had preparations to make before Juno came back. He would need to pick a good outfit, put on the right makeup, think of a good way to make a good impression on a family that already largely hated him and perhaps wanted to drink him dry.

But before all of that, he had to talk to Omar Khan. While their relationship was shaky at best, it was obvious Khan cared a lot about Peter. Enough to be protective, at least, and that was enough for Peter to be hesitant for this conversation. Still, he knew it could take a few hours to get ready, so he would have to rip this band-aid off as quickly as possible.

When Peter finally left his room, the house was bustling with activity, kids running in and outside, playing some game that they’d come up with that day, a few others were making a mess on the wall with markers, which Peter deftly plucked out of their hands on his way into the kitchen. Khan was at the table, quickly moving between 5 separate craft projects between kids while Noor was teaching a few of the older ones about the gruesome process of cleaning a fish.

“Oh, Rex, there you are,” Khan said. “You normally aren’t such an evening owl. Was starting to get worried.”

“Just slept in a bit,” Peter said absently. “I hope I haven’t missed much.”

“Dad! What do you think about this shade of blue?” a kid asked from the other end of the table. Khan very quickly ducked over there to compliment them on it. It looked like a turquoise from where Peter was sitting, not quite fitting to the overall composition of the unicorn thus far, but it had potential.

Peter decided to just get it all over with quickly.

“I have some...news I’d like to tell you,” Peter said, hating just how awkward everything he said was when he was around Captain Khan. Sure, around everyone else, including Juno Steel himself, Peter was calm and collected. He could even be cunning, if he wanted to. There was just something about how earnestly Khan wanted to be a father figure and how purely...awkward he was about it that made Peter match.

“Oh?” Khan asked. Peter recognized the fear that shot through his eyes at that and immediately recognized his mistake. Of course Khan would assume he was deciding to leave. For once, the idea nearly brought bile to Peter’s throat.

“I have a...date tonight.” That wasn’t quite the right word for it, but it was the closest thing he could come up with. And saying that he was just starting to go out with Juno that night made everything easier. Still didn’t make it easy to lie to Omar or any of the other Khans in the room.

“That’s wonderful!” Noor chimed from the kitchen behind them. “Who is it? We must know them.”

“I’m sure you do,” Peter said.

“I sure hope it’s Juno Steel,” a child said with a fish skeleton in hand. She quickly used said skeleton to terrorize her sister at the craft table.

“Juno Steel?” Khan asked, ripping the skeleton away with a quick lecture about being kind to siblings. “I thought I told you that kid was a bad influence.”

“I do recall that warning, yes,” Peter said. “But it is Juno Steel. He’ll be coming to pick me up a little later but he wanted to meet you first. All of you.”

“See, I knew he was a good kid,” Noor said. “Do you think he’d like some fish for dinner?”

Peter couldn’t help but snicker at that. “You’ll have to ask him.”

“Where’s he taking you? For how long?” Khan immediately started listing off detail questions, but Juno had let him off easy with that one.

“He hasn’t told me much,” Peter admitted. “He’ll be here at five to pick me up.”

“I’m gonna make him the best gift!” one of the kids immediately said, slamming his hands on the dining room table. “Unless he’s stinky, then I’ll come up with another one!”

“Please do,” Peter encouraged. “I have to get ready, but I wanted to warn you all.”

Immediately, the table was swarming with kids that wanted to each make a gift or some sort of paper jewelry to Peter to wear for his date. Peter desperately tried to ignore the way his stomach coiled in knots at the sight of it all. Khan, for what it was worth, just nodded, but it seemed like he was already mapping out exactly what he was going to say to Juno when he got there. Peter viewed that as the perfect moment for him to step out and start getting ready.

Some of the more outgoing of the kids followed after him, demanding an impromptu makeup lesson since he was already going to be in the bathroom, and Peter couldn’t bring himself to say no.

* * *

“What’s this brush for?”

“That one is for blush.”

“Why’s it different from foundation?”

“So you don’t mix the colors.”

“Why do you need a brush for lipstick?”

“Certain situations call for it.”

“Why not this one?”

Peter laughed, carefully taking the brush from a child’s fingers before turning back to the eyeliner he was doing on another one. He didn’t mind this endless line of questions as much as he thought he would. And while he was certainly slower with his own makeup while he was teaching two to four kids (their attention drifted in and out over the course of several hours and some gave up entirely while others grew more interested over time), he had fun with it.

“This isn’t that big of a date,” Peter said. “I can still get as dressed up as I want to, but Juno isn’t really the kind of lady to be impressed by that sort of thing.”

“But you said at the start that make up was for yourself and no one else,” Peter’s best student chimed in.

“And I was right,” Peter said, finally finishing up the wings to mirrored perfection. “However, sometimes you might want to impress someone because you like the way it feels. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of other times to impress Juno, just...later.”

Before any other questions could be posed, the doorbell rang and Peter could hear several dozen footsteps race to the door for this highly anticipated meeting. With a small chuckle, Peter set about putting everything away and cleaning up the bathroom while all of the kids with him also scurried down to see Juno. Peter could hear some of the commotion from where he was. One of the kids must have opened the door to let Juno in, stranger danger be damned, and Peter could hardly hear the poor thing over the chorus of questions pouring out of the children.

Just to be a little torturous, Peter took his sweet time putting everything away, listening closely for the sound of Khan finally interacting with Juno. He wasn’t exactly excited to be around for that conversation, but he could allow himself to relish in Juno’s awkwardness for a moment before he joined them downstairs.

“So, you’re this Juno Steel I’ve been hearing about.” That was Khan’s voice clear as day now. Nearly all of the kids quieted down so that they could watch this mess unfold and Peter couldn’t help but chuckle at him. Khan had undoubtedly met Juno before. As chief of police in such a small town, of course he’d at least talked to all of the Aurinkos.

“Yup, that’s me,” Juno said. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Chief Khan.”

Peter finally got around to walking down the stairs to watch the terribly awkward handshake happening just in front of the front door. These two idiots were practically made for each other with how they interacted so...awkwardly.

Juno hadn’t dressed up all that much, which Peter expected. They were just going to meet his family. He looked a little more casual than normal, though, like he was ready to do just about anything. Peter could only guess what they would be doing at his family’s house. He lit up upon seeing Peter, finally released from a no-doubt intimidating handshake. Had it been anyone but an immortal being seemingly made of stone, Peter was sure it would have been very intimidating indeed. Still, it was nice to see that Khan was at least impressed by the handshake.

Noor scurried into the room to give Juno a big hug, and he seemed to accept it merely as a reaction, surprised by her sudden approach.

“All of the things we’ve heard are good, I assure you,” Noor said. “Omar just likes to be a little dramatic. You two make just the cutest couple. I’m sure you’ll have so much fun today.”

Peter stifled a groan, quickly walking up to Juno and pushing him toward the door as subtly as possible. Now that he was actually experiencing the cliche of doting parents, it was becoming stifling and a little uncomfortable. And maybe filled him with a little bit of guilt, but no one could prove that.

“Curfew’s 11, you know,” Khan said and Peter really did let out a groan at that.

“Don’t worry,” Juno said with a small laugh. “We’re not gonna go too nuts. Just dinner and a game with the family.”

“A game?” Peter asked, now curious, but Juno didn’t offer him anything.

“It was great to meet you all,” Juno said, quickly turning around and opening the door. The statement was a little robotic, but nice enough, and Peter followed closely after him.

“You did quite well,” Peter said proudly on the way to Juno’s Volvo.

“I’m not that great with crowds,” Juno admitted. “Especially not kids.”

“Well, they seemed to love you,” Peter said.

“Those were your eyeliner wings on that one kid, right?” Juno asked.

“Did you like them?” Peter asked. “I would love to do them on you sometime.”

“I’m not that flashy when it comes to makeup,” Juno said, sheepishly.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t do it every now and then. They would look lovely on you, I think.”

“I might show you some of my own sometime,” Juno said. “Now get in the car, everyone’s gonna be waiting for you.”

“Of course.”

Peter obediently climbed into the car after Juno, who sped off without preamble.

“They decided to make dinner for you,” Juno said. “I’m not sure how much I’d trust it, considering it’s Rita and Mick. Everyone else got roped into it, but they’re the leaders behind it all.”

“Oh,” Peter said. “I assumed you all didn’t eat so I made sure to eat something already.”

“Oh.” Juno paused. “Well, that’ll be fun when that comes around.”

“You said something about a game?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, it’s...dumb,” Juno said, but he had that crooked smile of his on. “It’s basically a tradition at this point, though. I’m pretty sure you’ll have fun.”

“With you there, I’m sure I will,” Peter said.

He was still very nervous about meeting Juno’s family, so they filled the entire car ride with idle chatter. Peter watched the trees go by mindlessly, observing just how far away Juno’s family lived from the rest of the town. They really were in the middle of the woods. Juno would probably say something about how it was for safety, but Peter figured they also just liked having the space.

Eventually, they did happen upon the house, and Peter was stunned. His mind had spawned all sorts of fantastical ideas from Dracula’s castle to quaint cabin. What he got instead was a stylish, modern home, completely encased by the woods but with windows on all the outside walls. Like they weren’t ashamed to show who they were as long as you were brave enough to get close. Peter could see a few people milling about inside, and he recognized them in passing, but not enough to really pull them apart from each other.

“Alright,” Juno said while they watched the garage door go up. Peter couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of four other cars, all of them expensive sports cars to boast their considerable wealth. “You’re already on Rita and Mick’s good sides. Rita’s the persuasive one in the family so it should be fine. Jet’s tough to get through but...listen, I’m still pretty sure he’s only alright with me in general and we’ve been together for decades. Buddy’s stoic but she’s got this weird harsh matron effect, I’m sure she’ll, like, secretly like you or something. The one you really need to look out for is Vespa. She’s...tough.”

“I’m sure I can handle it,” Peter said. “But thank you, dear.”

Peter gave him a peck on the cheek before he ducked out of the car, allowing his hand to briefly trace along the hood of a green convertible that immediately drew his eye. He’d stolen a few cars in the past, and there was a massive urge to steal this one, but he knew he likely wouldn’t get very far in that endeavor.

“That one’s Jet’s,” Juno said. “That one and the bike. He really doesn’t like people touching his stuff.”

Peter withdrew his hand, glancing at a motorcycle leaning against a wall, covered in dirt from heavy use. He followed Juno inside the house, steeling his nerves and putting on his most friendly face. He could do this. It was just a nest of vampires that only slightly hated him and had every reason to distrust him. He would be just fine.

The first thing Peter noticed when he stepped into the house, ironically, was the smell of garlic. Knowing how well the vampires could hear him, Peter decided to keep that little joke to himself. Instead, Peter distracted himself by taking in the house around him. It was incredibly open in floor plan to allow in as much light as possible from outside. Even with the overcast sky, it was very bright inside. They passed a sitting room, and it was obvious that they valued aesthetic over comfort, but that didn’t come as much of a surprise. Did they even feel discomfort? Looking at a particularly strange looking chair, Peter chose to believe that even a vampire would be in pain after an hour of sitting in it.

Even before they got too far in, Peter could hear a few people chatting away in the kitchen, where there were sounds of cooking. Peter felt a little guilty making them go out of their way to cook him something he wasn’t even planning on eating, but he would eat whatever they gave him, he decided. If only to give a proper impression.

They all must have heard them coming down the hall, because by the time they reached the kitchen itself, everyone had gone quiet. Peter easily recognized Rita and Mick, who were dominating every surface of the counter and stove top, both looking at Juno and Peter with huge smiles. Alessandra and Sasha were apparently enlisted as help, and they only looked a little disgruntled to see him from where they were poised over cutting boards with sharp knives. Peter recognized the man in the big jacket, and he figured that was Jet by process of elimination, and he was also enlisted, but he stood by a pot, hardly looking up to give Peter the time of day.

And then there were Vespa and Buddy, and something familiar nagged at the back of Peter’s brain, but he chose to file that way for now. They were leaning against a wall, apparently choosing not to be involved in the chaos of the kitchen, and while Buddy had a neutral expression on her face, Vespa didn’t bother hiding her icy hatred of him, completely different from the professional atmosphere of the hospital.

Buddy, mercifully, was the one that broke the silence.

“Rex Glass, lovely to finally meet you, darling,” she said, stepping forward to hold out her hand, but not far enough away for Vespa to let go of her other hand.

And Peter was about to respond, Buddy’s icy hand already in his, when Vespa chimed in behind her.

“If that even  _ is _ your real name.”

Peter laughed, albeit a little awkwardly, while Juno groaned behind him.

“Good guess,” Peter said. “You’re right, it’s not. I’ve just changed my name to avoid some bad memories of my past.”

“Vespa, we talked about this,” Juno grumbled.

“I still think it’s stupid,” Vespa also grumbled. “ _ He _ gets to know everything about  _ us _ but we don’t even get his  _ name _ .”

“And that’s a personal choice,” Buddy said calmly. “Chosen names are very important, even if the reasoning behind them is misguided at best.”

Peter allowed the shock to wash over him for a moment as he finished shaking Buddy’s hand. He allowed himself to be distracted by the nagging thought in the back of his head that there was something familiar about these two, and of Jet over by the pot, but he still couldn’t quite place it.

And before Peter could register much else, someone from in the kitchen ran over to him. That is to say, they ran at such a high speed that they basically teleported right in front of him. It was Rita, with the largest smile on her face he had ever seen as she immediately wrapped him into a hug that was just forceful enough to remind him of his very fragile body but also gentle enough that he wasn’t afraid in the slightest.

“Ooh, I’ve been tellin’ Juno for weeks that he was really missin’ out to talkin’ to you and here we are with him finally talkin’ to you and it only took a few days and you’re already here and totally in love. I mean, just seeing the way you two looked at each other on the way in here was just like in the movies. Can you even believe it?”

“Rita,” Juno said, voice bordering on just a pure sigh rather than a word. Rita, to her credit, took to the warning easily and quickly stepped back with a wide smile on her face.

“It’s nice to meet ya Mistah Rex Glass,” she said, giving one of those winks that was meant to be obvious. At least, Peter hoped she meant it that way.

“Nice to finally get around to meeting you, Rexy,” Mick called out from his position in the kitchen. “Bet you know Jay Jay’s been telling us all about you.”

“No matter how many times we ask him to stop,” Alessandra said with a smirk.

“Cool, glad I brought someone over so you could all harass him,” Juno said.

“No, no, this is about what I expected,” Peter said. Vespa was still glaring daggers at him, as was Sasha, who had yet to say a word. While Alessandra had been playful, Peter could still feel some venom in her stare. And Peter couldn’t read Buddy or Jet, which made him far more uncomfortable than he was willing to admit.

“Well. we’ve been finally putting this kitchen to use, at least,” Buddy offered. “I do think this is the first time we’ve used it. I hope you’ll pardon us if our cooking skills aren’t quite up to snuff.”

“I’m sure it will be lovely,” Peter said, eager to make a good impression.

“He ate before he came,” Juno blurted out and Peter never wanted to kill a lady so much than in that moment.

Sasha had been holding a glass bowl in her hands, full of some kind of salad, when Juno spoke. Peter started when the bowl shattered in her hands, yet Sasha didn’t even flinch when the glass rained over her skin and all over the floor. No one else reacted, aside from Rita, who yelped and immediately went to get a broom to clean it up.

“Well, that’s just great, isn’t it?” Sasha snapped, staring right at Peter.

“I...assumed we wouldn’t be eating,” Peter admitted.

“Glad we went to all the effort,” Vespa growled.

“You know what?” Juno started leading Peter out of the room by his arm. “I’m just gonna...give Rex the tour of the house while you guys clean up.”

“Nice meeting you!” Rita chimed as Peter allowed himself to be lead away from the room.

“Told them not to make a big deal of it and they made a big deal of it,” Juno mumbled. Peter knew they weren’t at a safe distance for the family not to hear them, so he assumed that was for the family to hear as much as him.

“The thought is lovely,” Peter tried.

“Yeah, yeah, keep sucking up while they can still hear you, whatever,” Juno said. “Okay...a tour. Maybe they’ll have their shit figured out by the time we actually head out.”

“Head out and do what, exactly?” Peter asked.

“Let me keep some secrets from you, at least for a little bit,” Juno said.

He led Peter through two different sitting rooms, each just as uncomfortable as the first one he saw, but Juno genuinely didn’t seem to notice how uncomfortable it would be. Peter had to assume it was Buddy making most of the decor choices purely because they all had the same aesthetic and Peter refused to believe that this aesthetic could belong to anyone else in the house. It was all charming, yes, but at the same time sharply aged to at least a century ago.

Eventually, Juno led him to a staircase, the backdrop of which was a very large frame filled with what seemed to be graduation caps.

“You like it?” Juno asked, already up the stairs, but still smiling at it. “We move around a lot, you know, trying to hide the vampire thing. We go to a lot of schools. We thought it would be funny to start collecting all the caps we earned.”

“That’s quite a lot of caps,” Peter said.

“Yeah, well, we’ve been to a lot of schools. We try to start out as young as we can, so we can stay longer, but there’s only so young we can look, you know? Not to mention all the college graduations. You wouldn’t believe how many degrees Buddy and Vespa have. They have a standing competition. Buddy’s winning at 5 doctorates.”

“And you all have the money for that?” Peter asked, deciding to let out that bit of curiosity while he could. This house was massive and in the middle of nowhere. Juno could regularly tip over a hundred dollars at a restaurant, and they could afford to just continue to go to college nonstop? Sure, Juno didn’t act or look like he was rich, but there was no explaining away the family or their several sports cars.

“Yeah,” Juno said, dodging out of fully answering Peter’s question before quickly walking down a hall. “Uh, this is my room.”

Peter knew what game Juno was playing, and he hated that it worked. Peter was genuinely interested in seeing Juno’s room, so for now he could tuck away the question of how this family had gotten this rich. He was sure that if Juno was uncomfortable with it, it was a juicy story indeed.

The first thing Peter noticed upon entering Juno’s room was how completely different it was from the rest of the house. It was beyond messy, in a way Peter imagined most teenage boy rooms were, but it managed to scream Juno in a way that was entirely unique. The other thing was that there wasn’t a bed, just a small sofa covered in dirty clothes.

“What, no bed?” Peter asked curiously as he stepped inside and continued to poke around.

“I mean, I don’t really need it,” Juno said.

“You never feel the urge to just lie down?” Peter asked. “Surely that little couch isn’t enough to satisfy being a little lazy sometimes.”

“I mean...I guess,” Juno shrugged and Peter turned his attention to Juno’s extensive music library. “I never really noticed how much I missed it until I was in bed with you… That...wasn’t meant to sound as sappy as it did. I just meant it’s been a while since I’ve been in a bed and with you there it was pretty nice and…”

Peter decided to save Juno from himself. “I didn’t figure you would be this into music.”

“I guess I’m not,” Juno said. “My brother was, though. And sometimes I hear something and think that he would’ve really liked to dance to it. So, I buy it. And I listen to it. It’s nice, really. Sounds a lot sadder than it actually is.”

“Well, your brother has good taste,” Peter said, looking closer at some of the albums. Then he noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the massive windows wasn’t just a window, but also a door.

“Juno, why do you have a door on the second floor?” Peter asked politely.

“I mean, it’s not like falling would matter much,” Juno said. “I like it open at night, lets in the nature I guess. And sometimes you just wanna head out. It’s...nice being able to leave whenever I want to, if it gets bad. It never has, but it’s an option I wish I had in the past, you know? I’m pretty sure Buddy put one in all the bedrooms.”

“How nice,” Peter said before turning back to the music. “Do you have a favorite? Your favorite, not Ben’s.”

Juno laughed slightly at that. “Maybe. There’s...one more room I wanted to show you, though.”

“Oh? Lead the way.”

Juno led him down the hall into a fairly large, echoey room. Peter had to fight back a laugh at the sight of it, a piano at the center, various uncomfortable seating surrounding it, and other instruments tucked neatly into corners, but it was obvious whoever used the piano used this room more out of anyone else.

“Don’t tell me you’re the type of vampire to mournfully play the piano in the middle of the night,” Peter snickered.

“Hey, at least it’s not an organ,” Juno said, walking up to the thing. “Ben and I used to do this thing, when we were kids, where he really wanted something to dance to, so I’d come up with something to accompany him. We didn’t have a piano back then, but we made do with whatever we could get our hands on, and I think I got pretty good at it. We snuck into an abandoned building once that had one and I...really liked it. Ben liked it, too. Long story short, I’ve kinda stuck with the piano for a while. Didn’t touch it for a while after getting turned, but once Buddy learned I could play...she didn’t really give me a choice.”

“I’d love to hear you play,” Peter said earnestly.

“I...might have written something. For you.” Juno admitted. “It’s still a work in progress, but…”

Peter wordlessly took the closest seat to the piano and motioned for Juno to go ahead. Juno smiled and took a seat at the piano. He lacked the practiced grace Peter had seen in professionals, but when he pulled in an unnecessary breath, he had more than enough confidence to make up for it.

The way Juno played piano was...exquisite. He played like someone who wanted to savor every note, who had worked hard to learn the sound and knew exactly what he wanted you to hear. Sometimes he would hit a hard section, one that Peter could tell even from a distance and hardly understanding music, that was difficult, play it with ease, and smirk at himself. And while he was hunched, hardly in any good posture to play the piano, the way his fingers sprawled on the keys was mesmerizing to watch. And all that wasn’t taking into account the song. The song Juno had written for Peter.

There was a bit of a sad note to it, maybe melancholy was a better word, but it still struck Peter. There was something about it that really stuck with him, that hit home in a way that he hadn’t expected it would. It was soft, soothing, yet at the same time too fast for him to really linger on anything for too long. And he loved it. He loved the way Juno’s body rocked with it, the way he followed his hands when he moved octaves, the way he let some notes ring on for what felt like an eternity. And he was terribly sad when it all came to an end.

In the silence that followed, Juno sat at the edge of the piano bench, looking right at Peter, obviously waiting for a reaction. Peter stood up, walking over to carefully take Juno’s face into his hands.

“You are just full of wonderful surprises, aren’t you?” Peter asked.

“Glad I can keep you on your toes,” Juno said with a smile. “You liked it?”

“I loved it,” Peter said before placing a quick peck to Juno’s lips. Juno kissed him right back when he tried to pull away, pulling Peter closer eagerly and Peter chuckled into the kiss, but allowed himself to be held.

“If I might interrupt…” Peter nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Buddy’s voice, but Juno didn’t seem all that surprised. Peter would have to get used to these sneaky vampires around him. “Could I steal Rex for a moment?”

“Uh, sure,” Juno said. He frowned a bit and Peter had learned to take that as the face he made when he was focusing on reading someone’s mind. Apparently, he was satisfied with what he got because he looked back up at Peter. “I’ll see you in a bit? She doesn’t bite, promise.”

“Oh, I assure you I do, darling. Just not humans.” Buddy smiled like she was immensely proud of her own joke.

“Right, of course,” Peter said, straightening himself out before heading towards Buddy. It was strange being left alone with yet another vampire, knowing how long Juno had tried to dissuade him from getting anywhere close to him. For some reason, Peter had felt okay going into this vampire nest as long as Juno was at his side, but leaving Juno behind made him a little anxious.

Buddy didn’t seem to notice, or at the very least didn’t care, as she led Peter through the hallway before opening a door into what appeared to be a bedroom. This one, at least, had a bed that seemed well-used, and if Peter were to guess, this was Buddy and Vespa’s room. Still eager to make a good impression, Peter tried not to make too much of a show of looking around, and so he couldn’t get many details. 

“So,” Buddy started, closing the door behind them as they walked in. Peter had a feeling she was trying to make him uncomfortable, and she was certainly succeeding, “I think it’s time we had a little chat, right, darling?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! We're getting dangerously close to where I'm writing because depression has been very real and so writing has been going very slow. I still think I'll be able to post as scheduled, but I'll let y'all know if anything changes coming up.


	15. Buddy and Vespa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buddy tells Peter a story.

“Have a seat, please.”

“Of course,” Peter said, going towards the small seating area Buddy had motioned to. The room was massive when he allowed himself to take more of it in, plenty big for two grown women and any space they could possibly want both with each other and when they wanted space away from each other. There were at least 2 separate seating areas, one much more formal than the other, and Buddy had motioned him to the more formal of the two.

She settled easily across a small table from him. “So, Rex, tell me about yourself. Surely you have quite an interesting story to have it end with a coven of vampires.”

“Well, I’m certainly hoping it doesn’t end here,” Peter said. “My story isn’t all that exciting, I’m afraid. Just leaving behind a past best left forgotten.”

“I find that when we try to run away from our pasts, we are much more likely to repeat our same mistakes,” Buddy said.

“Are you speaking from experience?” Peter asked, eager to get the conversation away from himself.

“How about I make you a deal, Rex?” Buddy leaned forward on the table between them and from this close Peter could feel the nagging in his brain that there was something familiar about her almost physically, but he still couldn’t place it. “If I tell you a story, will you offer me a name?”

“Does it have to be mine?” Peter asked.

“I’d prefer if it was,” Buddy said. Her wit was as sharp as a knife, and Peter could appreciate that about her. Despite being immortal, it was obvious she wasn’t all that young when she was turned, and from what Juno alluded to, she’d been alive for a long time. In this world, one didn’t get too far if they weren’t quick witted, especially not in this vampire game, he supposed. Something had happened to her, that much was obvious in the fact that she was hiding her eye, but Peter couldn’t place what. No matter how close to the tip of his tongue it was.

“Well, then, tell me more about this story of yours,” Peter said.

“As you know, any good love story has its fair share of tragedy in it. And this most certainly is a love story, at least the way Vespa and I see it.”

* * *

Buddy and Vespa. Vespa and Buddy. Their names were renowned in their own rights, but together? They were legendary. How they met was up for contention throughout the world of thieves. Some say they got in the way of a common heist, some say one was hired to kill the other, some say they met as children and grew into a life of crime together. The only people that could tell you the truth never sat still long enough for anyone to ask.

Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one could leave their name and picture at a crime scene as a love letter and calling card, and that was certainly where the fun was, darling. By the time Buddy and Vespa were leaving their names together, they were inseparable. No one could even think about one without considering the other in kind.

And they were, of course, fabulously in love.

They spent their time hopping around the entire world, whatever caught their eye, they stole, and whoever stood in their way or was too rude for their own good, they killed. When they were young, nothing could stop them, either law enforcement, mercenary, or fellow thief. Many tried, of course, but Buddy and Vespa only got as good as they were through practice.

They talked about stealing the very stars for each other. On occasion, they came across a few gems that seemed comparable, and stole enough that they had enough to certainly buy the universe. They could hardly bear to be separated from each other, but on the rare occasions it was necessary, they had a special meeting spot. In the United States, where they both came from, far enough West that the law generally didn’t care, and far enough into the forest that most thieves tended not to look. They had an agreement with the tribe that called that area their home; respecting the land, ensuring no one found or followed them, and keeping away all unwanted visitors trying to claim the land for themselves. 

So, whenever they had to separate, they had a promise. To meet by the cliffs. And they always did. No matter how bad a job got, how bad they had gotten hurt in the process, and no matter who they had to lead away before they got there.

That is, until they couldn’t.

It was a rather risky job in Paris that did them in. Buddy looked back on that night for decades, perhaps even a century, and could never quite place what it was that went wrong. Maybe they’d gotten too cocky after so long. Maybe someone caught wind of their plan. Maybe they didn’t give the law enforcement enough credit. Whatever it was doesn’t really matter anymore. What does matter is that Vespa was shot in the getaway.

Buddy didn’t remember a lot about that night. It was a flurry of activity under the dark of a cloudy night. It was meant to give them an easier escape, but all it did was help them get lost. Before it all went to hell, they ran through several alleys and backstreets, dodging out of the way of every police officer Paris had to offer.

“There’s not a way out of this one, Bud,” Vespa had said.

“Of course there is, Vespa, we just have to look harder,” Buddy had said.

For all of her bravado, Buddy was terrified. She’d never run out of escape plans before, and the very idea was foreign to her. She knew how to get out of any problem. That was her job, that was what she was good at. And when that rifle was fired and it hit Vespa in the stomach, all Buddy could think about was how she’d failed at it. 

“Get out of here, Buddy,” Vespa demanded.

“I can’t leave you here, Vespa. I refuse to. We will figure something else out.”

“Go, Bud!”

Buddy didn’t go, of course. She’d stayed with Vespa for as long as she could. Pulled her into an alley where they hopefully couldn’t be seen while she rattled her brain to come up with some way to pull them out of this. There was no way to remember all that she’d said to Vespa, all either hushed assurances that everything would be fine or just repeating the same “I love you” as many times as she could bear.

As far as Buddy knew for decades, Vespa had died in her arms that night. As fate would have it, it turned out Vespa’s heart was still just barely beating while Buddy was pulled away from her body, kicking and screaming, and dragged to prison.

It didn’t take long at all for them to decide Buddy’s fate: death sentence. Buddy had even managed to muster her energy a few times in an attempt to break out. Dead love or not, she refused to just sit down and let them kill her. But she got caught every time. The funny thing was, it wasn’t the law that wound up killing Buddy Aurinko.

It was a vampire. It was all too easy for them to break into the prison, and they had their eye on a very specific prize. News had gotten out that  _ the _ Buddy Aurinko was captured, trapped in one place. And someone had thought it was a good idea to turn her in an effort to start a vampire criminal army. Not a bad idea in practice, but they vastly underestimated the sheer stupidity in the idea of trying to make Buddy their underling.

As a human, Buddy was powerless against the vampire. They whisked her away in the night, bit her, and sat back to watch whatever monster Buddy would make as a newborn vampire. And that was their first mistake.

As it turned out, Buddy was...reborn with a remarkable sense of control. While most newborns would immediately go on a rampage and drain whatever human dared wander into their path, Buddy woke up feeling fairly normal, albeit a bit parched. She felt no intense thirst for blood, but she certainly felt the power running through her with her human blood still in her system.

And she had so much pent up anger, which she had absolutely no qualms with taking out on someone who’d just made her go through the most physically painful experience in her life directly after the most emotionally painful experience in her life. She had no way of knowing she had to rip apart the creature and burn the pieces to really kill it. She simply did it because it felt right.

But after that spark of rage had sputtered out, Buddy was left feeling frightfully empty. And so very, very thirsty.

It didn’t take long for Buddy to figure out what had happened to her. The fangs were a dead giveaway, really. And she’d managed to kill the only person who could have told her anything about the world she’d stumbled into. The thought of draining the blood out of someone curled her stomach at the same time it made it growl. And the very idea of living  _ forever _ without the love of her life didn’t sit well with her at all.

On the bright side, Buddy could now move much, much faster than she could as a human. Where before, it would have taken a few weeks at least to get to her desired destination, now she got to the familiar forest on the west coast of America in a matter of hours. It wasn’t like she got tired at all during the journey, so she found that she didn’t mind it at all. She had no idea why she went all the way over to their meeting spot at the cliffs. She knew she wouldn’t be able to see Vespa again, she just followed where her feet took her.

And maybe going to the woods that they called home so many times to let herself waste away and die just felt right. She passed by quite a few people on her travels and every time, her thirst grew, but she never gave in. She couldn’t quite place the reason why she wasn’t drinking from people. Yes, she didn’t really like the idea of drinking from someone all that much, but there was another emptiness there that she wasn’t all that keen on filling. A small part of her wondered if she could simply not drink blood at all and if that could make this new form of hers die.

Now, never let it be said that Buddy Aurinko is the type to sit around moping for lost lovers or to yearn for death, but there were a few terribly painful years in there where she didn’t do a whole lot. It took several months of lonely wandering in the woods and staring out into the ocean before she snapped out at the nearest living creature to finally quench that painful thirst taking over her senses. She just got lucky enough that it happened to be a deer instead of a person. And, while she wouldn’t call it  _ satisfying _ , it was good enough to do the job to bring her back from the edge of madness.

The people she’d made an agreement with on this land left her well enough alone. Maybe they figured out what had happened. She didn’t leave the forest for several years, after all, and Vespa certainly wasn’t there to keep her company, at least not outside of Buddy’s memories. And that was really all that accompanied her. She sat on the beach, in trees, under rain, it didn’t matter, but she would sit in one spot for days or weeks at a time, thinking about her darling Vespa, all of the good times they had together, and the potential that they’d had once before.

She wouldn’t use this word at the time, but perhaps she got lucky one day when she was wandering in the woods, looking for a new spot to sit and think, distracted by a shade of green she saw on a fern that she thought Vespa would have been quite fond of, and heard someone running. That alone didn’t pique her interest and she had every intention of turning in the opposite direction to avoid the confrontation, but then she noticed the pace of the footsteps, much faster than a human would be capable of.

Buddy had no idea how long she’d been in this forest, but she had an idea it was quite a number of years, and she’d never really noticed how lonely she’d gotten, but just the  _ idea _ of seeing another person, another  _ vampire _ , made her curious enough to investigate. She tried to be careful, of course, but she hadn’t bothered becoming acquainted with her vampire abilities quite yet, so it seemed this new guest noticed her first. He ran right up to her location, body poised for an attack and hands clenched into tight fists, eyes wild with fury.

Buddy was thankful she’d fed from a mountain lion earlier that day, giving her fast enough reflexes to dodge out of his attack, which wound up hitting a tree with enough force that the entire thing was ripped out from the ground, roots cracking the ground as it began to fall over.

This strange man tried a few more times to kill Buddy, and for some reason, Buddy didn’t let him. He was sluggish, despite his fury, obviously hadn’t fed in quite some time, and Buddy was fresh enough that she could avoid him with ease. Eventually, he did tire of the attacks, or at least the attempts, and time allowed his eyes to clear.

“Who are you?” he’d asked, voice low and deep, and Buddy couldn’t help but think about how long it had been since she last spoke.

“I should be asking you that question,” Buddy had asked. “Is there something you’re running from?”

Her eyes flickered to the sack on his back, filled to the brim with...something. Certainly, it was something important, with the way he stepped back to hide the sack from her eyes when he noticed it.

“If you have no qualm with me, I have no qualm with you,” the man said. “I will go. Do not follow.”

Buddy, of course, followed him. And while the man certainly got annoyed at her, he didn’t try to fight her off. They both knew he was far too weak for that. She even followed him outside of the forest. She wasn’t all that surprised by the shift society had made in her absence. More people had come out this far West, enough that the man was able to eventually get one away from the crowd without being noticed.

Buddy had never considered how distasteful it was to kill a human. There was some begging and moaning, which this man seemed to relish in with that hint of madness in his eye, and a lot of mess as he drank the human dry, leaving the corpse behind on the ground.

“Why are you following me?” the man asked Buddy once he was fully satisfied, his posture noticeably shifting to show a bit more calmness than before.

“I’ve never actually met another one of us,” Buddy said, despite not quite knowing why she’d followed him. “Call me...lonely.”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone you saw me, I won’t kill you this time,” the man said, adjusting his sack and continuing on his way. And Buddy, of course, followed after him.

Eventually she learned this mysterious vampires name, Jet Sikuliaq, and also learned that he was himself a criminal, running from the law. Normally, he assured her, he didn’t allow himself to lose his cool so badly, but he’d been wrapped up in a long con for so long he’d forgotten to feed. Normal thefts from humans had apparently lost their charm since he’d turned, and he had been eager for a challenge. He’d stolen from a vampire and was on the run, hoping that he could keep from being found this far West. Sadly, it looked like he really had been followed and hadn’t had the time to properly feed in a while.

To keep a terribly long story short, Buddy agreed to help this strange man with his problem. For the first time in apparently decades, Buddy was thinking of something other than death and her dear Vespa. She was eager to keep this train going, finding that she greatly disliked the feeling of despair she’d allowed herself to wallow in for so long. The adventures Buddy and Jet went on were quite exciting in their own right. Considering it started off with killing a selection of the vampires Jet had stolen from, they had a lot to live up to.

Buddy had missed the thrill of crime, and Jet was the one that brought her back to the shores of sanity. She returned the favor by introducing him to her chosen diet. While it was a hard switch for him, in the long run, Jet seemed to prefer drinking from animals over people. Over the years, he calmed down significantly, and his skills as a thief greatly improved with his sanity. They lived several decades, enjoying crime simply for the sake of crime. They didn’t really have a need for all the wealth they amassed together, but that was really the fun of crime, wasn’t it?

It was sometime in the 50' s (again, it becomes terribly difficult to keep track of time in times of immortality), where they happened upon another...happy accident. Buddy had smelled the blood from all the way across New York City. She smelled it a lot and it normally didn’t bother her, but this was...so much more than normal. Jet seemed to notice it as well and they didn’t even need to ask one another before they ran over to investigate, just out of sheer curiosity.

What they certainly weren’t expecting was a teenager, beat nearly to death, thrown out among the garbage outside of a closed bar. Jet was willing to leave well enough alone, and Buddy nearly was as well, but something stopped her. This was just a poor kid and whatever stupid action had wound him up here, certainly she could at least try to rectify. Maybe that was it, a sense of justice, that caused her to do it. But really it must have been a bleeding heart she wasn’t quite able to squash no matter how long she’d been dead.

So, Buddy turned him, despite his apparent death-wish. And while that is quite an interesting story in it’s own right, darling, it’s not Buddy’s to tell. 

What Buddy certainly wasn’t expecting out of this, however, was to get attached to the poor lady she’d turned. She wasn’t planning on just leaving him to his own devices after turning him, but he wasn’t exactly part of her long-term plan. That changed, however, when Juno came back from an...unfortunate trist with some other vampires, genuinely wanting to work with them, and Jet didn’t mind the little addition to the group. It took a while to encourage Juno to agree to their terms of life as vampires, but eventually he did.

Juno didn’t make for an exceptionally good thief initially, but he was smart as a whip and a quick learner. And he might have reminded Buddy a bit of herself in her initial years without Vespa, so she was more than happy to help him where needed.

It was a few years later when Buddy saw the shock of a familiar face on a job just before the person she was robbing was stabbed to death right in front of her. Buddy didn’t even register the rush of blood around her when the body fell, and just on the other side of it, stood Vespa herself, hood up and gleaming yellow eyes just visible underneath.

“Vespa?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Vespa, dear, it’s me. Buddy.”

“No. You’re not...You’re not real!”

There was quite a bit of running around and chasing after that. Buddy became rather single-minded in the chase, admittedly, but no matter how hard she tried, Vespa always seemed to outrun her. Eventually, in a desperate hoping of gaining ground, Buddy called out to her, praying she was still close enough to hear.

“Vespa! Vespa, if you can hear me...I’m so sorry I left you all those years ago, if I had known...If you are still the same woman I fell in love with, hell, even if you aren’t, meet me at the cliffs once again. Meet me there and we can talk this out, figure this out. I want to try...us...once again.”

Buddy had no way of knowing if Vespa really heard her, and Juno was nearly certain she hadn’t, but Buddy had made a promise she intended to keep this time. They first ran into Vespa in New York City. That was where most of the exciting stuff happened, but it was getting harder and harder to keep their secrets there and keep their needs as vampires under wraps, not to mention how hard it was to find food out there. They were already planning on moving further West once again, so it really wasn’t that far out of their way to go back to Washington and the forest Buddy had called home for so long.

It was far more settled there than Buddy remembered, much less forest, and significantly less of the native people she’d had her original deal with, as tragic as that was. Still, she waited in that forest for several days. Each day, Juno would tell her that waiting for Vespa was a lost cause, that she should just give up. Well, Buddy didn’t keep Juno around for his optimism. Jet seemed more than content to wait with here, looking out for anyone that might be a danger to them, but never finding anything.

The way Vespa tells it, she was in that forest with them from day one, she was just good at her job of assassin and lurked in the shadows enough that no one spotted her. She was...afraid. She wanted to make sure that this was really  _ her _ Buddy. It had been a very, very long few decades alone. She hadn’t gotten as lucky as Buddy when she turned. Vespa had been turned by a band of vampires with a tight group of control, a net she couldn’t easily get out of. And while Buddy’s experience of turning into a vampire had been painful, Vespa’s experience permanently affected her mental stability. She’d spent the last several decades dealing with hallucinations, some even of Buddy.

Regardless, Vespa did eventually show herself to Buddy, only after she was certain this wasn’t just another hallucination. Their reunion wasn’t smooth by any means, nor were the immediate months afterwards. They were new people after all, with different needs and different experiences. Still, even all of those years apart didn’t get rid of the holes they each had in their hearts. Holes that they both managed to fit in perfectly, even after everything they’d been through.

Together, they brought more and more into their family. They stuck to those that they encountered in need of a second life. Those that were dying far too young for reasons outside of their own fault. A war here, a motorcycle accident there, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were just as much family to Buddy as Juno, Jet, and especially Vespa. It turned out that Vespa had an ability to match Buddy’s, an impressive sense of control around the blood of humans and a preference for animal blood. Vespa was the one to turn Alessandra and Sasha, while Buddy was the one responsible for Mick and Rita, but they both treasured each and every one of them as their own, personal family.

It was a miracle that they managed to find each other again, a sick miracle of undeath. While the chances of their situation were infinitesimally small, Buddy will always be grateful for the second chance they had, and has dedicated herself to making sure she never takes it for granted.

And even to this day, their names are still just as infamous. Vespa and Buddy. Buddy and Vespa. Forever intertwined.

* * *

Peter was frozen in shock. He had no idea why he hadn’t put the pieces together sooner. Well, he did, but it was a rather stupid reason. Buddy Aurinko, Vespa Ilkay, and Jet Sikuliaq were all infamous thieves throughout history, and most importantly, they were all  _ dead. _ Of course, that made sense with what Peter knew now. But that was why hadn’t even thought to bring them up in his memory.  _ Buddy Aurinko _ was sitting right in front of him.  _ The Buddy Aurinko. _ One of the most infamous thieves in all of history, someone Peter looked up to immensely. Not to mention Vespa and Jet, who very clearly hated him. Peter had spent several years idolizing them, viewing them as examples. Hell, Mag talked about them with fondness in his voice, too. Everyone who was anyone in any form of crime business strove to be as good as Buddy Aurinko, Vespa Ilkay, and Jet Sikuliaq. 

And Peter was lucky enough to be sitting in front of Buddy Aurinko herself.

Buddy smiled at him before speaking up once again. “You aren’t as good at hiding your emotions as you think you are, darling. What has you thinking so hard?”

Peter tried to school his expression further. Of course he wasn’t hiding it all very well. In the past, he’d been good at faking emotions for whatever persona he needed, hiding any thoughts he had behind his mask. Recently, though, he’d been having a tougher time of it. He was sure it had something to do with Mag, but being around Juno had him opening up more and more, and just the shock of knowing he was in the same house as infamous thieves made it nearly impossible to keep calm.

“I must confess,” Peter said finally, “I’ve...looked up to you for as long as I can remember.”

“A fan?” Buddy asked, tilting her head with a smirk.

“I should say it’s mostly the fault of my...mentor,” Peter said. “He’s the one that brought me up and I’ll admit he wasn’t the best influence. I’ve read all of the biographies and original newspapers that detailed your exploits. I assure you hardly any of them are really all that accurate, but I’ve been working for years to be even just a fraction as good as you.”

“You know, I keep meaning to get involved with those biographies,” Buddy mused. “I’ve picked up a few myself and I think they’re all far too boring. And the assumption that I died in prison? Tragically boring of an end. I’m much more of a fan of the true crime documentaries about me.”

Peter resisted the urge to tell her that he’d also watched every single documentary he could get his hands on about these three. He did this for a lot of criminals, yes, he was a touch obsessed with getting as much information as possible about past thieves and famous criminals. None of them compared to the three he was in the house of, though. All three of them had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, but so many years ago that they were most certainly dead and no one was going to get any answers, making them a hub of conspiracies and other fantastical assumptions. But Peter was now one of the few people in the world that knew the real truth about the three best thieves in recent history. And the reality made far less sense than any of the fantastical theories.

He was nearly vibrating in his seat, he was so excited about it.

Finally, Peter settled on how he would return the favor. He originally hadn’t intended on giving Buddy his name at all, rather another alias, but he felt some intense need deep in his soul to be properly known by one of his idols. He wouldn’t go as far as to telling her his full name. He was much too embarrassed about his lack of a proper criminal record and all of his failures, but he wanted to give her something.

“Peter. My name is Peter.”

Buddy smiled. “Well, Pete. I just have one more thing to tell you while I have you in my room. I’m sure you know all that we’re risking allowing you here in our home.”

“I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone,” Peter assured her, ignoring the way his stomach lurched at the familiar name Mag used to use. And that was true, regardless of her past. Telling anyone about this secret hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Not just that. You’ve put us in quite the compromising position. Not all of us are quite as patient with human blood as I am. We run a risk just having you near us. You might not think you have much of a connection to this town, but if anything bad happened to you, attention would snap to us. And I don’t like risking my family.”

Her eye bored into Peter, and he’d never felt so small in his life. She wasn’t angry with him, far from it. She was protective, like a mother bear surrounded by her cubs. This was a family she’d worked hard to bring together, and she wasn’t going to simply sit back and allow any threat to just come in.

“At the same time, I trust Juno and his decisions,” Buddy continued. “He’s never steered me wrong when I’ve asked for his help. All of that is to say, if it comes to it that you bring my family into any danger, all of the blame will be falling on you, darling. And I am not one to forgive or forget.”

Peter swallowed. “Point taken.”

“Wonderful,” Buddy said, standing up. “I do hope we wind up getting along. I might eventually take a liking to you. We will have to do something about those frightful attempts at stealth, though. I fully expect you to put back all of those things you’ve stuffed into those pockets of yours.”

Peter fought the urge to laugh at his own stupidity, heat rising to his face in embarrassment. If he’d have known who he was stealing from when he’d picked up a few pieces of interesting looking decor just to see if it was possible to steal from vampires...he wouldn’t have done it at all.

“Of course,” Peter said.

Buddy opened the door into the hallway, motioning for Peter to get out, and he obeyed the wordless order without a word himself. Juno was right outside as expected, looking exasperated, but he did perk up at the sight of Peter.

“I told her not to read into you like that,” Juno said after Buddy passed them by to go back downstairs. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, don’t be,” Peter assured. “I’m sure you heard everything in there. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I looked up to her. How could you not have told me that she’s  _ Buddy Aurinko? _ ”

“Uh, think you knew that before you even met me,” Juno said. Peter sighed, mostly upset with himself for not even thinking about the possibility that this Buddy Aurinko really was the crime queen from over a century ago. Now he had more than a few reasons for wanting to join this family. And he'd managed to connect the dots of why Juno was awkward about his family's money. They'd acquired it through theft. And while Peter didn't have a problem with, Juno had wanted to be on the side of the law a long time ago.

“Regardless,” Peter said, “I think what she said was warranted. Now, anything else you wanted to show me?”

“Hey, you two lovebirds!” Rita chimed from the bottom of the stairs. “Sash said the thunder’s about to start. You comin’ with us?”

“Coming with you where?” Peter asked, choosing to ignore the pet name Rita had given them, despite Juno’s mortified face.

“It’s kind of a tradition,” Juno eventually said. “Thunderstorms are the only time we can really do anything with our full strength for fun. And through a lot of trial and error, and banning any game we decide we don’t like the rules of, we’ve taken to playing baseball.”

“Baseball?” Peter snickered.

“Listen, once you’ve got a list of 20 banned games because some people are sore losers-”

“It’s not being a sore loser if you cheated!” Alessandra yelled from somewhere else in the house.

Juno sighed before continuing. “You take whatever games you can get. You interested?”

“I would love to see you play baseball,” Peter said immediately.

“Yeah, well, you asked for it,” Juno said and started leading him down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me a very very long time because I find Buddy difficult and terrifying to write. I want to give her justice, but I just can't quite get her voice right. But I did my best and I must move on.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you in two days!


	16. The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aurinkos play a rousing game of baseball.

Peter honestly didn’t know what to expect when it came to vampire baseball, but he knew it would be entertaining. Everyone had already gathered whatever supplies they needed by the time Juno brought Peter back to the garage.

“Hey guys!” Mick called to them excitedly from the Jeep. “Everyone else is going ahead, but I figured you’d need a ride.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Peter said, watching as everyone but Mick, Juno, and Rita took off in a full sprint out of the open garage door, taking all of their bats and other supplies with them. They all vanished in a similar blur of speed that left Peter breathless, even from this far away.

“Oh, Rex, you’re gonna love it,” Rita said excitedly, also climbing into the Jeep. “We always need someone to be umpire because no one really wants to do it and everyone keeps on cheating.”

“It’s not cheating if it’s technically not in the rules in the first place,” Mick said pointedly.

“Mick, everyone knows that you can’t decide to turn around at first base and call that a home run,” Juno said bluntly. Peter climbed into the Jeep after Juno and they were speeding off in no time.

Surprisingly, Juno was not the most reckless driver in the family. In fact, Mick Mercury gave Juno quite a run for his money, speeding along the winding roads of the forest at such high speeds Peter was practically clinging to Juno to keep himself upright, not that he minded all that much. Meanwhile, Rita was chatting mindlessly in the passenger seat as if none of this bothered her at all. It seemed she was in the middle of a conversation about at TV show she was extremely invested in with Mick before they had arrived in the garage, and she had no qualms continuing it.

“And then Sapphire goes right up and just  _ guts _ Mandrake right in front of Kim!”

“No!” Mick gasped.

“Yes!” Rita returned. “Which was already a whole lot for Sapphire's character, and just when I was getting to hating her, you know? But then out from the woods comes Yamir!”

“What?”

“And honestly they shoulda just thrown out his character months ago, but this was kind of a sweet reunion for Mandrake, but I don’t know if it was worth all the hubbub about it. Franny loves Yamir, and apparently a lotta people online do, too, but I never got into the guy!”

Peter tuned them out eventually, looking up at Juno. He had this fond look in his eye when watching Rita and Mick that Peter hadn’t seen before. They’d been siblings/friends for a while, had been together for decades from Peter’s understanding, so of course Juno would become fond of them. And while Juno liked to pretend he was annoyed by them, Peter could see from his face back here, with only Peter watching, how he really felt.

Juno frowned when he saw Peter staring and scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“You know you didn’t have to come,” Juno told him, under the conversation still raging in the front seat.

“I will never turn down a chance to see you have fun,” Peter promised. ‘How long have you all been playing baseball?”

Juno shrugged. “A few years now. I’m sure it’s bound to get banned soon and then we might have to pick up something even more creative. Like lacrosse or some shit.”

“Are you any good?” Peter asked.

“I’m alright,” Juno said. “I’m definitely better than Vespa, no matter what she says about it. Buddy’s a shit umpire, anyway. She says she’s impartial but that’s a fucking lie.”

“And do you think I’ll make for a more unbiased umpire?” Peter asked.

“Either way, I’ll be getting less outs, right?” Juno asked.

Peter would have find some way to break it to this family that he barely knew the rules to this sport. He was fairly confident that this was the sport with three outs and homeruns, but other than that it was all a big blank. He’d never had reason to learn anything about sports in general, but he supposed this was a good a reason as any.

Peter opened his mouth to ask Juno for advice on being an umpire, which he assumed meant referee, when the Jeep came to a stop and the three vampires all climbed out. Peter looked up to find that they’d made it through a section of the woods that definitely didn’t have a path at all, and had wound up at a very wide, open field. The rest of the family were already there, Jet and Vespa throwing a ball between them. That is to say, Peter was pretty sure that was what they were doing. Every now and then, they would change position and it certainly  _ looked _ like they’d thrown something, but all Peter could see was a small disturbance in the air, followed by a loud thud as it landed in a bare hand. It seemed they were foregoing protective mitts for this game.

“Good luck,” Juno said, patting Peter’s shoulder as he guided him towards Buddy, who was talking with Sasha, both of them looking up at the sky.

Just as Peter walked up to Buddy, lightning streaked across the sky, through the clouds. Wherever they were, it was closer than he normally was to the sky, up higher in the mountain, most likely. Less than a second later, thunder cracked through the air, nearly deafening and thudding through his entire body.

“It’s time,” Buddy said with a smile, glancing at Peter. “There you are, Pete. How much do you know about baseball?”

“Enough to get by,” Peter said, watching as Juno and Rita wrestled over a metal bat, a mischievous smile on his face as he pushed her into the wet ground. Peter flipped a hood up to cover himself from the rain.

“I’ll help you figure out what to look for in the first few swings,” Buddy said. “Thunderstorms are the only time we can really go all out, so it might be hard to spot at first.”

Peter wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but he also wasn’t quite sure on the rules of baseball in general, so he was grateful for any tips. Juno seemed to have won the fight for the bat and was standing a few feet in front of Buddy and Peter, getting into a ready stance. Sasha, Mick, Jet, and Vespa all took to the field, Sasha tossing a ball in the air with one hand and a smirk on her face. Alessandra and Rita stood to the side, and Peter supposed they made up the two teams. Buddy would probably join the smaller team once Peter got the hang of things.

Peter watched everyone carefully, but he couldn’t help but think that everyone was awfully far away. He only had a general guess as to the size of a proper baseball field, but this clearing seemed...much too large. Sasha stood in the middle while the others plopped some bases onto the ground, including Rita at Juno’s feet. Strangeness aside, and superhuman speed and strength aside, Peter was pretty sure he could figure out the rules of baseball fast enough. Whatever he didn’t get, he could fake it easily. Hopefully.

The first hit was nearly too fast for Peter to see. One second, Sasha was upright in the field, and the next she had her arm stretched out. Peter vaguely saw something white fly through the air before he heard a crack directly in front of him not too different from the thunder they heard before. Juno’s pose hitting the ball was as perfect as Peter had ever seen, and he wasted no time as the ball sailed over everyone’s heads and into the trees beyond, sprinting across the bases.

“I suppose that would be a homerun?” Peter asked, half hoping to sound impressive and half hoping that the little information he already had would be useful.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge,” Buddy offered. Peter then realized he couldn’t see Jet. When he looked into the woods to try and place where Juno had hit the ball, he caught just a glimpse of a brown jacket before the ball was thrown nearly too fast to see, right into Buddy’s waiting palm. Juno slid into home base just half a second later.

“I believe that means you’re out, darling,” Buddy said, tossing the ball idly in her hand with a smirk on her face.

Juno groaned. “Jet! You’ve got no business being that fast!”

When Peter looked back into the field, Jet was already back in his position.

“You should have been faster,” Jet supplied.

“I’ll show you faster…” Juno grumbled, but walked to the side while Alessandra picked up the bat.

The beginning of this hit was exactly the same as the first, but Peter was getting better at seeing the movement now that he was expecting it. He had to focus and make sure his reflexes were as fast as possible, but he could track it. When the ball sailed into the air, this time the hit went to the right. Vespa was the one to run after it, her green hair just a slightly different shade from the rest of the trees to be obvious. Peter watched in awe as she effortlessly jumped up at least 10 feet in the air, using a branch to launch herself up even higher and catch the ball before it could even go over the treetops.

Peter couldn’t help the thrill going down his spine as he watched them all like this. Impossibly fast and strong, and so effortlessly controlled. It made him feel small, watching them bound so high, move so fast, and throw so hard. Like they should be playing on a field of the Gods while he was just a mere mortal looking on helplessly. 

On Rita’s turn, she went for something with more tactics. The hit sounded like a peal of thunder once again, but she didn’t make it go high, where everyone was already looking. No, she hit it low. Peter could barely see the little, white ball as it sailed just over the ground and into the woods. Immediately, the three non-pitchers bolted into the forest to find something they had apparently missed.

And Rita took her time getting back to home plate. She wasn’t the kind to show off, certainly, but Peter knew how fast a vampire could run, and she was taking her time, even though she was still going much faster than Peter could run. She was the first one to score a point.

“Think you’re getting the hang of it?” Buddy asked.

“Why bother having any of the other plates if you hardly use them?” Peter asked.

“It’s hardly playing the game if we’re not following the rules, now is it?” Buddy asked with a smile.

Vespa ran over to their side. “You go ahead and bat, Bud, I’ll make the calls this round.”

Peter ignored the small dread in his stomach at the idea of standing alone with Vespa for a while, but hopefully didn’t let it show. They shared a kiss before Juno tossed Buddy the bat and she stood at the ready. Peter absently wondered if Juno’s mindreading and Sasha’s future sight were considered cheating in this sport. Though he supposed that was the reason they were on opposite teams.

Buddy shot off like a rocket once she hit the ball, leaving Peter definitively alone with her wife. Sure, the others were a few yards away from them, but with the speed everyone moved...they were very, very alone together.

“I still don’t trust you,” Vespa said coldly. Peter kept his eyes ahead, watching as Mick fumbled with his grip on the ball, dropping it on the ground and giving Buddy a chance to run. Vespa continued, “And if you do  _ anything _ to my family, nothing will stop me from getting appropriate revenge.”

“I know you find it hard to believe,” Peter said, watching as Juno argued with Mick about how throwing a ball at Buddy wasn’t the same as tapping her with it to get her out, “but I don’t mean you any harm.”

“And you wouldn’t be the first person to fuck up something out of their understanding,” Vespa said. “I might not be able to keep you away, but I can make my warning perfectly clear.”

“And you have,” Peter said. “So get back to your game.”

Buddy had apparently made the call that she was, in fact, out, so they were in the middle of switching sides when Peter noticed that Sasha wasn’t moving. Her eyes were wide, unresponsive as she stood still and eventually Juno hesitated before looking back at her.

“Stop!” Sasha shouted. “We have company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much everyone who's reading and commenting! I love you all!


	17. The Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another vampire makes an appearance and the Aurinkos need to make a plan.

“Don’t draw any attention to yourself.”

“Don’t even breath.”

“Slouch as much as you can.”

“I told you something like this would happen.”

Vespa stood off to the side while Juno and Rita were busy, moving at nearly the speed of light, to cover Peter up. Almost a second after Sasha had shouted, Juno was at Peter’s side, shoving his jacket into Peter’s arms. Someone was coming, and they weren’t human. Rita was also at his side, putting her cap on his head and pulling a scarf out of seemingly nowhere and throwing it around his neck.

“None of that’s going to help,” Sasha scoffed. “I could smell him all the way across the field.”

“Not helping,” Juno snapped.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Peter assured. He hated all of this treatment that he was fragile. He could handle himself in most circumstances and, vampires be damned, he didn’t need  _ this  _ much protection.

“We’ll get out of here as soon as possible,” Juno said, making eye contact with him. The worry clear in his eyes was enough to make Peter refrain from any further remarks. “They’re too close for us to get away without them being suspicious. Don’t say anything.”

“Alright,” Peter allowed, nodding and tossing the scarf in a loop around his neck.

Juno took his position next to Peter, but just half a step ahead, guarding him, while the rest stood in an array in front of them. It looked just relaxed enough that they could have stood in that position naturally, but Peter recognized the defensive stance in them. Buddy stood the most in the front with Sasha pointing the way that their visitors would be coming, Vespa at her side.

Peter almost didn’t notice when four people entered the clearing, they moved so damn fast and effortlessly. It nearly looked like they were walking, despite moving so fast, but Peter couldn’t really place any details about them until they came to an abrupt stop a few feet away from Buddy.

Standing in front of this formation of vampires was a pale, nearly sickly looking woman. Peter couldn’t fully place her facial features, they seemed just off enough that they didn’t quite...make sense. Behind her stood three identical people, each with a mask covering their faces and identical, gray, bland clothes. The woman looked at their group with disinterest, making eye contact with everyone in quick succession. Juno shifted more in front of Peter, just an inch.

“Terribly sorry,” the woman said, her voice scratchy and...old. It lacked most of the poise that the vampires Peter had met so far had, and sent chills down his spine. He settled further into his clothes meant to hide his scent, hoping it would work, as she continued, “I didn’t know there was a coven here.”

“We keep a permanent residence here,” Buddy said simply. “How long have you been in town for?”

“We’ve been around for a few weeks,” the stranger said, and Peter thought back to all the disappearances Khan had been talking about. Not many in Forks, granted, but a strange surge in the surrounding area. Peter had been willing to write it off as a strange animal attack when Juno said they didn’t eat people, but Peter couldn’t help but be distracted by the blood red color of this woman’s eyes.

“Ah, then it’s your hunting that’s been making things difficult for us,” Buddy said.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” the stranger said with a sickly sweet smile on her face. “We’ve put a trail down to lead them up North.”

Peter made a mental note to talk to Khan later and talk to him to make sure he wasn’t part of the team going after them.

“Much appreciated, then,” Buddy said. She sounded disinterested, untrusting. Peter did his best to make sure he was breathing as quietly as possible.

“Sounded like you were having...fun up here,” the woman continued. “We were just on our way to move on, but we didn’t know you were here. I wanted to say hello.”

“Well, hello, then,” Buddy said. “You said you were leaving? So soon? We’re always open to hosting guests.”

Peter tensed, but he trusted Buddy’s judgement enough to stay where he was.

“I appreciate the offer,” the woman said, “but we prefer our...isolation. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t making any enemies without saying hello.”

“Well, rest assured, you’ve no enemies here,” Buddy said.

The woman nodded, and turned to address the people with her. Something about them made Peter’s hair stand on end, but he didn’t dwell on it. With her back turned, Juno took that as permission to start guiding Peter to the Jeep. They moved surprisingly slow, like they didn’t want to bring anything to this stranger’s attention. Peter kept his footsteps light and his breaths low, trying not to cast any lingering glances.

And then a cold breeze whipped against his face and Juno froze. There was a moment of silence before Peter heard the woman’s quiet, cruel voice from several yards away.

“A human,” the woman mused. “And a delicious one at that. Did you bring yourselves a snack?”

Juno started to react, Peter recognized the deep frown on his face, so Peter took a swift hold of Juno’s hand to get his attention, shaking his head. Peter could read the room, and he knew Juno’s reaction would just make this worse.

“You have good taste,” the woman said, and Juno’s hand tightened painfully around Peter’s. He bit back a pained grunt, not wanting to draw attention to himself. “But why take him all for yourself?” 

“What Juno does is his own business,” Buddy supplied easily.

Juno stared into space for a moment, a look Peter had come to associate with him reading minds, or he assumed as much. It didn’t take long for a grimace to appear on Juno’s face, meaning their chances of making it out of here were slimming.

“Oh, it’s not a snack, it’s a pet,” the woman teased, voice full of venom and Juno’s lip curled into a sneer. “How adorable.”

“Juno,” Peter said quietly, barely even a whisper, hoping it was enough to snap Juno out of a bad decision that he was clearly on the verge of making.

“And dangerous.” Whoever this woman was, it seemed she was intent on making a nuisance of herself and Peter fought the urge to glare at her.

“We don’t need your opinion on our actions,” Buddy said. “It might be best you leave now.”

“Yes, it might,” the woman said. “Maybe we will meet again.”

Peter heard what sounded like a gust of wind and when he glanced back, the woman and her three friends were gone, into the wood. Not seeing them made Peter even more nervous than before, and Juno seemed even more angry.

“We need to go,” Juno said, tugging Peter towards the Jeep once again.

“Juno,” Sasha called out to them, but Juno didn’t stop. “Juno, you know what I saw.”

“We’ll meet back at the house,” Buddy said, and the way she spoke, there was absolutely no room for argument.

Peter didn’t waste any time climbing into the Jeep, and in a flash, Juno was in the driver’s seat, speeding back through the woods.

“Juno, what was that?” Peter demanded when it looked like Juno wasn’t going to answer.

Juno pursed his lips as he stared ahead. Both of his hands were gripping the steering wheel tight, much tighter than necessary. Peter was nearly afraid he would break the poor thing.

“You should’ve heard her thoughts. She…” Juno let out a long breath through his teeth. He lifted his hand up and lightly tapped his knuckles at the steering wheel, miming something with much more strength but obviously holding himself back. “She’s not going to leave us alone.” Juno spoke with a broken voice, like that admission was torn out of him.

“What?” Peter asked.

“She’s…” Juno let out a groan, turning hard onto a real road now that they’d made it through the woods. He sped faster than normal, and Peter found himself gripping tight onto the seat. “She’s fucking awful in her head. All these self absorbed, self important thoughts about being alone and manipulating people and having what she wants it was…”

“Why won’t she leave us alone?” Peter asked. Was it something he did? Was it something Juno did? He sincerely hoped he wasn’t causing problems for this family.

“She’s got this twisted idea in her head about being  _ alone _ ,” Juno seethed. “Like it’s her ideal world and she thought she was and we were here and we fucked it up and there was  _ you _ and she saw it as a weakness and she took it as a challenge and a place for her to go. I don’t know, it was all...Her mind’s so slippery and hard to follow but she’s got an  _ obsession _ with being alone and getting what she wants once she’s decided she wants it.”

“And what does she want?” Peter asked.

Juno paused for a bit. Long enough for Peter to see the Aurinko household come into view. His voice shook when he spoke.

“She wants you.”

“Me?” Peter asked.

Juno parked in the garage, clenching and unclenching his fists while he tried to calm down.

“She can read minds, too,” Juno said. “Not...not like me. It’s selective, she chooses when she wants to instead of the static like I get. She went through everyone’s minds one by one trying to find a weakness, something in our group that would give her an opening to take us out. And then she got to you and she...couldn’t read your mind. It’s like how I can’t read you or how Sasha can’t see your future and Rita told me earlier that she tried controlling your emotions and it didn’t work.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?” Peter asked.

“That’s not important right now!” Juno snapped. “She...she’s got this weirdo fucking army of vampires on her hands that follow her whims but she controls them, knows what talents people can get when they turn, she thinks she knows what you are, thinks you’ll be useful. And she read my mind and she knows...God, she knows that if you do anything, I’m at least gonna fall apart and who knows what the hell is gonna happen to the rest of the family if she gets to me, too.”

“She...wants to turn me?” Peter asked, hoping he’d heard Juno wrong. Sure, he’d thought about becoming a vampire before, but definitely not like this. Not some strange threat of control.

“I felt her, like a  _ worm _ in my thoughts,” Juno said. “She can’t just read minds, it’s like she can control them. She tried digging in there, but all I heard was her voice over and over again saying that she’s gonna get what she wants.” They were quiet for a while, on Peter’s end because he had no idea what to say. No idea what to think. Luckily, Juno spoke up first. “We need to get you out of here.”

Juno slammed open the car door and Peter climbed out after him. Sasha was already in the garage with them when Peter got out.

“Juno, you saw what I saw,” Sasha said.

“Not now,” Juno growled.

“What did you see?” Peter asked.

“I might not be able to see his future,” Sasha said, pointing at Peter like he wasn’t even there, “but now that I’ve met  _ her _ I saw it clear as day. Unless we do something, she’s going to turn him.”

Peter’s blood ran cold at her words.

“I know!” Juno shouted. “I’m working on it. We gotta get him out of here, we’ll have to move. Or I will.”

“We can’t all just drop everything because some weirdo showed up in the woods!”

“Then I’ll deal with it. I got us all into this situation, I’ll get us out of it.”

“How? How the fuck are you going to even start fixing this?”

“Stop!” Peter snapped. “What are you talking about? I can’t just leave Forks.”

“Family meeting.” Buddy’s voice rang through the garage and Peter looked up to see her standing in the doorway into the house. “Now.”

Juno and Sasha immediately quieted up. Sasha went ahead, shooting Juno and Peter a glare before walking into the house.

“I’m sorry,” Juno said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize yet,” Peter said. “I like my chances with you, even when I’m not sure about what’s going on.”

Juno led Peter inside, into one of the many sitting rooms. Buddy stood in the room with an array of chairs and couches pointed at her. All of the others in the family were in the chairs, Vespa in a chair at Buddy’s side, and a couch open for Juno and Peter to take. Juno didn’t even hesitate at the sight, which made Peter think these family meetings were common occurrences.

“Juno,” Buddy said once they’d taken their seats. “Report.”

Juno took a breath.

“Her name’s Miasma. She can read minds. And...control them. It’s not a complete control and it’s hard to convince someone to do something unless they really want to do it in the first place. It’s more a small scale thing, but she can use it enough for at least a 20 vampire army, especially newborns since their minds are pretty much gone at that point. She could influence any of us if she wanted to. She’s one of the types to have a newborn army, but she uses her powers to keep their thirst under control and under her power. She wants to be  _ alone _ . If she had it her way, there’d be no one else in the world, but that’s not feasible, so she settles for killing whoever she comes across. She likes a challenge, especially a strong coven. She considers herself to be a strategist, prides herself in knowing just how to attack.”

Juno paused, looking at Peter, guilt clear on his face even though he had absolutely nothing to do with this.

“Her plan is to turn...Rex. Use my rage to catch me off guard, either control me or kill me, use the instability to go one by one through the coven and get rid of us all. She’s got a special interest in Rex because she can’t read his mind either and she thinks he’ll be even stronger as a vampire, some kind of shield or something.”

“Thank you,” Buddy said. “Sasha, report.”

Sasha sat perfectly upright.

“Unless we do something,  _ Rex _ is going to get turned by her. I can’t see his future, especially not after that, but I know it’s not good for us. We’ll make it but...not all of us.”

“Well, then we need to do something,” Buddy said.

“We need to get Peter out of Forks,” Juno said.

“I can’t just leave Forks,” Peter protested.

“This is your life,” Juno snapped.

“Yes, and you know as well as I do that Forks is the only place I actually  _ have _ a life,” Peter said, not quite knowing where this was coming from. In another lifetime, he would have jumped at the chance to run away from any ties and never look back. But now? Maybe he was growing soft, but now he didn’t  _ want  _ to leave.

“I hate to break it to you, darling,” Buddy said, sounding like she was trying to find the best way to break bad news to a child, “but from the sound it if, it seems we’re past thinking about ourselves. If we don’t get you out of here, the Khans might be at risk as well. Juno, how much trouble do you think her mind control will be for us?”

“Not much,” Juno said. “It’s less of strict control, more of suggestion. As long as we’re careful and aware of it, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Buddy paused for a moment to think and Peter’s mind raced. He was putting the Khans in danger, just by existing. Just because he was standing in some field when a vampire came around. Maybe Juno was right, maybe Peter’s number really was up, if his luck was turning this sour this fast. Peter couldn’t help the rage bubbling in his chest at this entire situation. He’d just started allowing himself to think that he could sit back and settle somewhere, at least for a little bit, but that was never really in the cards for him anyway, wasn’t it?

Peter was good at disappearing, after all. If that was what it took to keep these people he put in danger safe, then he would gladly do it.

“Alright, I have a plan,” Buddy finally said and Peter snapped his attention up. “She’s going to be hunting for Rex’s scent. It’s a tough one to mask, so we’ll have to confuse her. Alessandra and Mick, I’ll need you to take his jacket and anything else he’s willing to part with right now and run his scent through town. Lead her as far away as possible. Juno, you’ll have to go with them.”

“I’m not gonna just leave him alone,” Juno protested.

“If you want Miasma going after you instead of him, then you will,” Buddy said, voice clear and cutting. “Sasha and Rita, I’ll trust you to take Rex south. By car first, and we’ll see if Miasma takes the bait or if we need to reassess.”

“Are we really going to just pick up everything and leave because of one human?” Vespa asked angrily.

“This is past that now, darling,” Buddy said. “She wants to play this game with us, she will. You and I will stay here, and we’ll track her if we need to. If we’re lucky, we can take care of this with just us and eliminate her and then this will all be for naught. Worst case scenario, we’re moving.”

Peter took a breath to collect himself. South. Closer to home than he would like, but he could do this. Not to mention mere hours ago several members of this family had threatened him if he brought any danger to them. He was a little rusty with disappearances and his muscles for escape had atrophied a bit, but he could do this. He was a professional. He just needed to compartmentalize. Turn off his emotions, shun anything that made him sad about the possibility of leaving Forks. He could deal with the real emotions of leaving them behind later, if it came to that.

“I need to stop by the Khans’,” Peter said.

“Are you kidding?” Juno scoffed. “That’ll just bring Miasma right to them.”

“If my scent is what she’s following, she’ll go there anyway,” Peter said. “She needs a trail to follow out of that house and away to keep them safe. Besides that...they’ll need to not look for me. It might put them in even more danger.”

“Alright,” Buddy said. “Juno, you go with him. When he’s finished, start leading a trail away from him.”

Juno looked like he wanted to protest, but Peter shut him up with a gentle hand over his tense fist. As touching as it was that Juno didn’t want to leave him, Peter knew that Buddy’s plan was probably for the best. It pained him to put Juno in harm’s way for something that was Peter’s fault, but it might be for the better that they were separated during this.

If worse came to worse, if keeping Peter around was looking to be more trouble than it was worth, it would be easier for Peter to separate from the Aurinkos if Juno wasn’t around.

“Sasha, I’ll text you a good place for you to stop and for us to regroup,” Buddy said. “We’ll be a bit busy here for a while, but I’ll find somewhere. Same with you, Alessandra. Otherwise, you all have your assignments.”

No one even hesitated before they stood up, so Peter followed suit. He didn’t have much on him, aside from his own jacket, the jacket Juno gave him, and the hat and scarf from Rita, which he hoped had enough of his smell on it, so he offered it to Alessandra and Mick. To her credit, Alessandra didn’t waste time putting on the jacket herself, but she definitely didn’t look happy about it. Mick offered him a bright smile before they both ran off, into the night.

Juno angrily walked them to the garage, getting into his Volvo. He nodded to Rita and Sasha as they piled into another car.

“Juno, I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Peter said while he got into the car. Juno didn’t even wait for him to buckle before he sped off, but Peter knew he had to be quick on the draw and was already buckling.

“This isn’t your fault,” Juno ground out. “This is all Miasma and her freaky, weird shit she has going on.”

“If all goes to Buddy’s plan, this shouldn’t even be much of a problem,” Peter said, trying to assure them both.

“You didn’t hear her,” Juno said quietly. “Her thoughts were…”

“It will be okay,” Peter said. He would make sure of it. All of these vampires were walking around him as if he were made of glass and he was getting tired of it. He could make effective plans as well, and his plans might be safer, away from Miasma’s powers. And Juno’s. He would just tell Peter it wasn’t worth it, that he couldn’t do anything against a vampire. But he was going to prove that he could do something. First, he just had to make sure everyone he cared about was safe.

“What are you going to say to Khan?” Juno asked.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Peter said. “I need something that will make sure they don’t follow or go looking for me. I’ll...I’ll have to hurt them.”

The idea made Peter’s stomach churn. He’d just started getting used to thinking of a place as “home” and he was going to ruin it. If he hadn’t been so stupid, he would have followed through with his initial plan and not gotten attached. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to feel so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this turned out being two days late. Totally didn't mean to get as far behind as I was, but you know how it is. Quarantine, depression, etc., etc. Hopefully this makes up for it. Things are ramping up for Peter and hopefully I will continue to update on time for Thursday!


	18. Guidance/Impatience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter makes a tough decision to get out of Forks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy, so it's been a while. Depression's been kicking my ass. But I made a promise to finish this damn thing and I'm gonna complete it. This thing is basically entirely written. I just need the epilogue. So as long as nothing unforseen happens, consider this a daily release schedule.

It didn’t take Peter all that long to come up with a plan. What took a while was coming to terms with it and being willing to enact it. Peter had been allowing himself to genuinely feel his emotions for so long, it took a while to bottle them back up again in order to do what was necessary. He’d gotten out of practice really filing away his emotions, now that he was thinking about it. Eventually, he was able to do it again, and it felt just as miserable as he remembered.

Peter let Juno know his plan as they approached the Khan household, maybe even for the last time. Likely the last time, if Peter’s put his plan into action.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” Juno said when Peter reached for the door handle to get out. “If I hadn’t gotten you involved with all this vampire shit, you wouldn’t have to do any of this.”

“I’ll be fine, Juno,” Peter said, fighting the urge to tell Juno this wasn’t his fault. If he did, it would likely lead to a long conversation of them both placing the blame on themselves for what happened, and it wouldn’t get them anywhere. He climbed out of the car before Juno could say anything else.

Peter took a deep breath as he approached the front door, Juno close behind him. Juno put a hand on his shoulder and gave what was probably supposed to be a reassuring squeeze and Peter just sighed, throwing the door open. Time to play the part of the most dramatic teen he could muster

“Leave me alone, Juno,” Peter snapped, hoping he was loud enough that the people in the house could hear him. It wasn’t late enough that any of the kids would be in bed by now, but he hoped he hadn’t woken up the baby in a nap. “I told you we’re over.”

Immediately, several kids ran into the entryway to get a peek at them.

“Rex, wait, listen,” Juno called out, but he wasn’t as used to acting as Peter. The words were halting. Best cut him short.

Peter slammed the door shut in his face.

“Is something wrong?” Khan asked from behind him.

“No,” Peter said coldly, “I’ve just realized this whole thing has been pointless.” He started up the stairs, and Khan didn’t try to stop him, but did follow him, an army of kids in tow despite his whispered warnings.

“Uh, I know this dating thing can get tough,” Khan stumbled over his words as he followed. “But it’s just one boy and, uh…”

“I don’t mean Juno,” Peter said. “I mean this. Small town life, pretending I could be part of a family.”

“Rex, wait, just think for a second,” Khan spoke faster now, panic clear in his voice while Peter refused to look at his face. Peter stopped in front of his room before turning to look at him better. All of the kids behind him, which at this point was nearly every child in this house, looked a little scared.

“We all know that fake name was a stupid idea,” Peter said. “Just like everything else. I’m leaving.”

Peter yanked open the door to his room, slamming it closed behind him when he saw Juno standing just in front of his window.

Khan called in through the door. “Peter, let’s just...take a breather here. Don’t make this decision too fast.”

Juno looked at Peter with a caring look on his face, wordlessly asking if he was okay, but Peter wasn’t going to give a response, yanking a bag from his closet and shoving clothes inside.

When he didn’t respond, Khan tried again. “Let’s talk about this.”

Peter yanked the door open, mustering his strongest glare at Khan, which gave him enough leeway to brush past him and make for the bathroom.

“We all knew this wasn’t really going to last,” Peter said coldly. “You were just what got me away from Phoenix. I can handle myself from here.”

“Does that mean you’re leaving?” a quiet voice from a child nearly broke Peter as he grabbed his bag out of the bathroom. He was trying to make it look like he was really leaving to never come back. Had to make sure no one was going to follow him.

“I was never even going to stay,” Peter scoffed, shoving past the group that had followed him and back into his room to slam the door closed and get a breather. Just...file away those sad faces. He could deal with them later. He had to get out of this house.

“But you promised me you’d teach me how to walk in heels,” a child protested on the other side of the door. Peter made eye contact with Juno, who offered a reassuring look and Peter shook his head.

File it away. Focus on disappearing.

“I lied,” Peter said as he opened the door and headed back down the stairs.

“Now wait a second!” Khan protested, following after. Noor waited at the bottom of the stairs, that damn compassionate look on her face like she wanted more than anything to give one of those healing mom hugs Peter had heard about.

“Peter, what happened?” Noor asked. “Let’s talk about it before you do anything rash.”

“I’m not being rash,” Peter said, but stopped in front of her. The whole family was his audience now, which was exactly what he needed. Peter let out a cold laugh. “I’m sure we all know I’ve been planning on leaving as soon as I could. I’m sick of pretending I actually like living in this small town and coming home to a stupid family. And if you really believed I wanted to be a part of your family, then you’re all even stupider than I gave you credit for.”

The heartbreak was clear on Noor’s face, so Peter started shoving past her. A few kids were already crying.

“I keep telling you to wait, kid,” Khan snapped, reaching out and grabbing hold of Peter’s wrist.

Peter let out a small huff. He’d hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this, but if he wanted out of this house and wanted to really sever all ties with this family, he would have to be extreme.

Peter yanked his hand out of his grip at the same time he pulled a knife from his sleeve, pointing it right at Khan.

“Don’t touch me,” Peter growled. The look on Khan’s face was painfully clear. He was a police officer, was used to making fast decisions and setting his priorities. He stepped protectively in front of his kids. Normally, Peter knew better than to pull a knife on a cop, but he knew deep down that Khan wouldn’t really hurt him.

“Put the knife down, Peter,” Khan said.

“What,” Peter let out a small laugh, “are you afraid I’ll stab you? Like my last father? Did you really think this would be any different? I thought I made it clear to you. I only needed you to make it here. I thought I could pretend for long enough that I could just leave when I graduated, but I can’t stand it anymore. Now, you will step out of my way, or I won’t hesitate to use this knife. Do you really want your children to watch their own father get stabbed?”

There was a very clear change on Khan’s face now that his real family was in danger.

“Get out,” he said coldly. Peter stored the feeling in his gut at the sound of it away for later.

“Gladly,” Peter said, turning on his heel to yank the front door open and leave. Juno was already in his truck and Peter took a breath before turning the truck on and peeling away from the house as fast as Ruby would allow.

“Peter…” Juno said after a short while.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Peter said, staring at the road and ignoring his shaking hands.

They lapsed into silence as Peter drove to the meeting point where they were going to meet up with Rita and Sasha. After that, Juno would take Ruby in the opposite direction, taking him and Peter’s scent, including the clothes he’d packed up, with him.

Peter couldn’t help but think back to the look on their faces when he’d pulled that knife. He hadn’t wanted to do that in front of the kids, but doing it that way was the only way to make it really effective. Noor and Khan could protest all they wanted and say that they wanted what was best for Peter all they wanted, but the second he was a threat to their real family, they would draw the line. Hopefully Peter hadn’t scarred the children too badly. Luckily, Peter had also left behind anything that the Khans had given him, so he wouldn’t be stuck with any reminders. He wouldn’t have to feel bad every time he looked at a computer he didn’t deserve.

And now he’d bought enough time that the Khans wouldn’t go looking for him for at least a short while. And now there was a clear line of his scent leaving the house. They would be safe. Sure, they were hurt, but they’d likely get back to their normal life without Peter in no time. He’d only been around for a few months, nowhere near long enough to leave a good impression.

He pulled up to a gas station, not bothering to even turn Ruby off as he climbed out. Rita bounded over to them from the only other car in the lot, Sasha still at the steering wheel. 

“Good to see you two made it,” Rita chatted, and Peter was grateful for the distraction from his thoughts. He needed to just file the Khans away. First rule of thieving: separate yourself from everyone else and you can disappear with ease. “Sasha and I found this great hotel down in Arizona that we can get to by the end of the night. You’re gonna love it.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Peter said.

“Stay safe,” Juno called from the truck’s cab. Peter offered him a glance and gave a quick nod. No attachments. Don’t leave anyone to miss you. When trouble arises...disappear.

Rita continued chatting as Peter got into the car, and Sasha started speeding off without so much as a word in his direction.

Peter sat quietly in the back seat, staring at the trees passing them by. So they were going to Arizona, then? A cruel twist of fate, it seemed, but he trusted Buddy’s judgement and her plan. That being said, Peter was still making his own plan. The thought of this family risking their own necks for Peter’s sake made his skin crawl. The only way to properly fix it would be to get out and figure out a solution to this mess on his own. He could figure it out, he was sure. He was an expert at disappearances, how hard could it be for him to figure out how to get away from two vampire chaperones?

Peter settled back in his seat, pretending to fall asleep so that he’d be left alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Eventually, Peter did actually fall asleep. He was pretty sure it happened somewhere in California, but Sasha was driving fast, far faster than was legal, and it was so dark, it was hard for Peter to really keep track of where they were. Peter really wasn’t looking forward to going to Arizona, and he severely hoped as he felt himself going to sleep that this had all just been a bad nightmare.

But he was left with only disappointment as Rita shook him awake and he opened his eyes to a familiar red landscape with barely a tree in sight. It was nearly sunrise, just a hint of sunlight peeking over the horizon. Sasha already had a hood up and sunglasses on as Peter watched her head inside the hotel they’d gotten to. Rita had a handkerchief tied around her head stylishly, bedazzled sunglasses on top of her head.

“You really musta been tired, Rex,” Rita said. “You slept, like, the whole ride over. Should’ve told me sooner, I was talkin’ for a while about this show I’ve been watching that I think you’d like. It’s about a super secret undercover spy who…”

Peter stopped paying attention to her as she led him inside. He’d forgotten how warm Arizona was, but he didn’t even remember to enjoy it before they walked into the air conditioned lobby. Peter shivered, pretending to pay attention to Rita while she talked much too fast for Peter to properly follow her. He was struggling to remember where he’d gotten in his plan to fix this whole fiasco, and he still felt a little tired.

Sasha walked up to them holding out a keycard with one hand while he busied herself texting with the other.

“I’m updating Buddy on our position,” Sasha reported and Peter took the card, taking in the number written on it. “Our room is on the third floor. I have a few calls to make.”

She stepped away, phone to her face, while Peter and Rita walked to the elevator.

“Ooh, I hope they have good room service,” Rita said, smiling up at Peter. “I know I don’t need to eat, but, listen,  _ nothing _ beats a good snack, not even blood.”

“Of course,” Peter responded non-comitally.

Rita continued talking about something or other. Eventually, the elevator opened and they walked to their room. It seemed that they had spared to expense here, opting for the top floor, and a suite extension. The room even had its own kitchen. Rita closed the door behind them.

“Alright, Rex Glass-slash-whatever your real name is,” she said seriously, “I’ve been doing my best to inject all the good feeling juice I can into you and nothing I’m doing is working.”

“You’ve been...what?” Peter asked. 

“It’s real weird,” Rita said. “Even with all the other people in our family all it takes is a little push and I can help them get into a good mood. And that’s with just the usual certified Rita Charm (™), but sometimes I gotta pump it up a bit and use the  _ powers _ . But even that’s not working on ya and it’s kinda weird.”

“Oh,” Peter said. He hadn’t even felt anything, regardless of what Rita was talking about. She’d been trying hard for a while to get him into a better mood, but his mind was so caught up in fixing this situation and lingering on what he left behind in Forks, despite his best attempts at shoving all of that into his mental filing cabinet.

“So we’re gonna sit down and have a real chat,” Rita said. “Get all emotional and stuff, the good kind with all the crying and the tissues. But only if you want to. Because as every proper consumer of media knows, you gotta want an emotional moment in order for it to really happen.”

“Thank you for your concern, Rita,” Peter said with a smile. “But I think I’m just tired. I think I’ll just...go back to sleep.”

Rita pouted at that and Peter got a flash of memory of the look on the kids’ faces when he pulled a knife on their father. It hurt far more than he was comfortable with. He needed some time alone to properly sort all of this away. He wouldn’t get very far in his plan at all if he kept getting distracted like this.

“Right, o-of course,” Rita said. “Well, we got this whole room in mind just for you. Since we don’t need to sleep, you can have that whole suite all to yourself.”

“Thank you, Rita,” Peter said, offering her a short smile. He placed their keycard on the kitchen counter before heading into the room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it.

He let out a long breath, running his hand over his face. He used to be so much better at this. He used to be able to just file away his emotions and guilt about doing what was necessary with ease. But he’d gotten out of practice these last few months. He’d wasted enough energy going to therapy and getting lost in a fantasy of a small town and having a family. Now he had to get back to his real life.

There was a hotel-supplied pen and pad of paper on the bedside table and Peter picked them up, getting started on sketching out some plans. And he worked on getting back in the practice of shoving his emotions into the back of his head where they belonged. Letting his emotions get the better of him was what got him into this entire situation, after all. If he hadn’t gotten so emotional with Mag, he would still be alive, and Peter wouldn’t have been involved with all of this, and he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of probably leaving Juno Steel behind at the end of all of this to keep him and his family safe.

* * *

Sasha came back in after a while, telling Rita that Buddy would call them when they had more solid plans in place. They’d apparently lost Miasma, and were working on finding her again, but were pretty sure she was still around Forks. Peter’s scent was plastered all over the town, apparently. Peter let them think he was asleep for a while, listening closely to them, but sometimes they talked far too softly for him to hear. Mostly, it was talk about where to go next, when they thought Buddy would call again, and how sunny it was. Once he caught them talking about how strange it was their gifts didn’t work on him. Sasha couldn’t see his future unless he was in the background of someone else’s future. Apparently, Miasma’s future still showed Miasma herself turning Peter.

Peter allowed himself to sit and think about that future as a possibility. Was it really the worst outcome if he turned into a vampire? Miasma was banking on manipulating him into doing what she wanted when she turned him, but her mind control powers didn’t work on him now and probably wouldn’t work on him when he turned. He could get away from her easily enough, especially when they were on the same ground as each other. Not to mention, these vampires were treating him like he would break at the slightest touch. There wasn’t even a guarantee if Miasma got her hands on him that she would even be able to turn him. Peter was resourceful and strong in his own way. He could find a way out of this in a way that didn’t end with Juno’s entire family falling apart.

Buddy and Vespas warnings were clear in his mind. Their family was in danger now and it was Peter’s fault. If Peter hadn’t intervened in their lives, they wouldn’t have to go through this. Most of the Aurinko family didn’t like him before this, and they would likely hate him after this. But if he proved he could handle himself without their help, and make it so that they wouldn’t even have to give up their lives in Forks...that was the best situation Peter could think of.

And if he was being honest with himself, maybe Juno really would be better off without him to keep causing him trouble. The thought hurt Peter more than he would ever admit out loud. He’d gotten attached to Juno, but he also knew how dangerous that was. Peter could hardly be considered a real professional if he couldn’t set his emotional attachments aside, however. 

So for now, he could put his emotions aside. He could implement his plan. And if everything went well, he would see Juno again and they might even be able to pick up where they left off. If everything went South...he’d deal with that when he got there.

It was just too bad he wouldn’t get that kind of opportunity again with the Khans.

...File it away. He could sort through his emotions later, when it was more convenient.

* * *

Peter came out of the bedroom a few hours later. The curtains were drawn tight and Rita and Sasha were lounging on the couches, a TV show on in the background that Peter didn’t recognize. Rita immediately perked up at his entrance while Sasha didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Any news from Forks?” Peter asked.

“They can’t find Miasma,” Sasha said, “but her army is around town, so she can’t be too far away to keep them under her control.”

“You must be hungry,” Rita said, getting up and snatching Sasha’s phone from the coffee table in front of the couch. “Let’s order something for you to eat. It’s been a while since the last time, right?”

Peter’s stomach growled at the reminder. He supposed it had been a while.

“Thank you, Rita,” Peter said. “Food would be lovely.”

Rita called the nearest pizza place after a quick conversation about what Peter wanted, and she made sure to order cheesy bread for herself and Peter refrained from his curious questions about her eating habits. He wasn’t even sure if he was going to eat the food that they were getting, so it was good at least one person would enjoy the pizza they were ordering.

Peter sat in an armchair, absently watching whatever show was on. Rita chatted through it, trying to catch Peter up. Under better circumstances, Peter would have been more than happy to keep up with her, but he wasn’t in the mood. Normally, he was better about focusing his emotions, but he was a bit out of practice. Maybe all he needed was a little food and he’d feel a little better.

But when Rita came back in after running down to the lobby to pick up their delivery, just the smell of the greasy cheese made his stomach churn. Still, he politely took a slice and started to eat it. Sasha had been quiet the whole time, but right as Rita settled with a napkin piled high with cheesy bread, Sasha sat up straight, a far off look in her eye.

“Whaddya see, Sasha?” Rita asked excitedly.

“Paper, pen, now,” Sasha said. In a flash, Rita ran across the room and came back with the supplies in less than a second, putting them in Sasha’s hand. Sasha slammed the paper down on the coffee table, pen already working on drawing something, but her eyes straight up, watching whatever scene she could see unfold.

“Has something changed?” Peter asked.

“It must be something big if she’s writing it down,” Rita said. “Most of the time, futures don’t change this fast. It’s only really been since you got in the picture that all this has been happening.”

“That’s...reassuring,” Peter said, his mood souring further. He placed his half-eaten pizza down on a napkin and watched Sasha work.

She was drawing a room of some kind, but it was devoid of any people. Peter could make out some desks as he was drawing, windows with shades drawn, some doors. And as she continued, it took more and more shape. Enough so that Peter felt his mouth run dry. It couldn’t be…

Sasha finally came out of her trance, looking down at the paper. “Whatever Miasma’s changed her mind to, it’s going to happen in this place.”

“What is it?” Rita asked. “Doesn’t look like much.”

Sasha’s drawing was immaculate, an exact replica of a place Peter recognized clearly. Fate must really be mocking him now if it was throwing this in his path after so long.

“A lot of the furniture in the place was gone, but it looks recently vacated. Building supplies. Maybe they’re renovating, but no one else is in there.”

“Did you see what she was doin’ there?” Rita asked.

“No,” Sasha said, brow furrowed. “Glass must be involved. Whenever he’s directly around, the future gets all blurry and hard to track. All I know is something’s happening here, in this room.”

Peter swallowed thickly as he stared at the piece of paper. There was no mistaking it. That was the precinct Mag had tried to blow up, just over a year ago. How did Miasma know about it? Apparently, they had enough money to renovate it and continue business elsewhere, but they hadn’t gotten around to it just yet. It still looked exactly as Peter remembered it. He could even see a door Sasha had drawn that he knew led to the restroom it had all happened in.

Sasha’s phone rang and she snatched it up, standing as she snapped a greeting into it.

“What?” Sasha asked almost immediately and Peter stared up at her in shock. That didn’t sound good. “And you’re sure?” A pause. “Alright, we’ll be on standby. Keep us posted.” She hung up.

“Weeeeeeelllllll?” Rita asked hopefully.

“They caught one of Miasma’s army,” Sasha said. “Guy apparently can’t talk for whatever reason but they got the gist out of him. Miasma’s not in town anymore. They have no idea where she is.”

Peter stared down at the drawing, taking deep breaths to assuage his anxiety. He had a suspicion he knew exactly where to find Miasma, but he was the only one in the group. He finally had something to put him one step ahead. Now he just needed to build a plan to deal with Miasma on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I will finish this. I enjoy this AU and writing it, really, it's just that writing in general lately has been hard. But I'm so close and I refuse to give up!


	19. Hide And Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter runs away and gets himself caught in a sticky situation.

They had a whole day without any news. Juno called Rita and said he wanted to talk to Peter, but Peter said something about feeling tired and hid in the bedroom again. He wasn’t sure he could handle talking to Juno. If he did...he might just blurt out his plan and of course Juno would try to stop him.

And Peter did have a plan now. A pretty good one, actually. It was just missing a few pieces as he puzzled it together, and he needed to make sure he had all of his bases covered. Yes, he had plenty of weapons at his disposal, but that wouldn’t be enough with something as strong as a vampire. He’d have to be smart and quick on his feet to manage something like that. And he wouldn’t go forward until he had a guarantee going forward that he would make it out of that confrontation alive. Or undead. At this point, either could be considered a success, though he would prefer not to turn at Miasma’s hand. But it looked like he wasn’t likely to get much of a choice in that matter.

Not to mention, he needed enough space between him and his babysitters in order for him to get away from them. What was important was that the Aurinko family stayed safe in this scenario, and if they saw him try to make a break for it, they would stop him. He knew from experience that any of the tricks he normally used to sneak around, they would see him, which meant he would have to get creative.

Around sunset, while Rita was engrossed in a soap opera she’d found, Sasha sat bolt upright, eyes staring into space at the same time Rita’s phone rang. Someone must have changed their mind about something, so Peter waited patiently while Rita chatted with who Peter could safely assume was Juno and Sasha’s face fell to a frown.

“I mean I’ll try,” Rita said into the phone before offering it to Peter. “You gonna run into the bedroom to avoid Juno again or are you gonna take the call this time?”

Peter offered a smile. He knew Rita was smarter than he gave her credit for, but he hadn’t expected her perception to sting this much. Was it possible that she knew he was planning on running? Hopefully not.

“I’ll talk with him,” Peter finally allowed, holding his hand out to take the offered phone. He sighed before putting the phone up to his face. “Hello?”

“Finally,” Juno said. “What are you avoiding me now?”

“I think turnabout is only fair play at this point,” Peter said. Sasha stood up, motioning for Rita to follow her to the other side of the room. They started whispering and Peter damned their super hearing, since they were talking far too low for him to hear.

“I’ve been going out of my mind here,” Juno said. “We’ve got no idea how long she’s been gone for, if she even knows where you are… This isn’t working over here. We’re flying over to Phoenix, we’ll meet you guys there, and we’ll go somewhere else. I’m not gonna let her lay a hand on you.”

“As flattered as I am, Juno, I do hope you know I can take care of myself.” He paused. “Phoenix?”

“I told Buddy it was a bad idea,” Juno said. Juno sounded worried, but all Peter could think about was how that actually put him at an advantage. If they were going to an airport in Phoenix, he was even closer to the police station. He had a suspicion Miasma would be waiting for him there with the state of Sasha’s visions.

“No, no, I’ll be fine,” Peter said. “I’m sorry for making you all go through this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Juno said.

“Perhaps not,” Peter said. “What is your plan after we meet up?”

Juno sighed. “We, uh, we keep going. Until we find some way to pin her down and get rid of her. Maybe even just lose her if we keep going long enough.”

“Sounds like quite the exciting life,” Peter said.

“And between you and me, I’m planning on having us go off on our own after Phoenix,” Juno said. “I feel bad having everyone do all of this.”

“Well, I did say that staying in one place would be boring,” Peter said. “I admit the thought of running away with you does sound rather exciting.”

“Are you doing alright?” Juno asked and Peter cursed himself. “Sorry to ask out of the blue but you don’t have your usual...I dunno, charm?”

“I suppose I’m just tired,” Peter said. “Don’t worry about me. We’ll put all this behind us and everything can get back to normal.”

“I’m not...good at this kind of thing, but you can talk to me, you know that, right?” Juno asked.

Peter smiled, remembering all of those times they’d sat and talked through their pasts and all the tears they’d shed. And it nearly did make him break. He wanted to tell someone about how much it had hurt to do what he did to the Khans, wanted someone to tell him that it was stupid and reckless to try to go after a vampire on his own. It was part of what had drawn him even closer to Juno Steel in the first place, the fact that he was healing and working hard despite all the bullshit he’d made it through.

“I’m alright, Juno,” Peter said, filing all of those thoughts away. He could deal with them later. Just...not now. The only way Peter’s plan would succeed would be for him to shut off his emotions and just do it. That was how he got so good in the past at thievery and disappearances, and that was what he needed to recreate now.

Juno hesitated then, and it was obvious that he had a lot to say to Peter, but all he said was, “Okay. I’ll see you soon, alright?”

“I will see you soon,” Peter lied. Juno was the one that hung up and Peter sighed, staring at the phone.

...File it away, Peter. Just file it away.

Now that Peter knew they would be going to Phoenix, the last parts of his plan were falling into place. He knew what he had to do, it was just a matter of  _ how. _ Peter looked up at Sasha and Rita, already attempting to formulate a plan to lose two vampires. He was a master of disappearances, after all.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to the airport,” Sasha said, walking over to the window, likely to check on the status of the sun.

“What was your last vision?” Peter asked. He needed as much information as possible, and if his future in that damn police station had changed once again, he needed to know what to expect.

“Nothing,” Sasha said. “It’s probably going to change soon anyway.”

Peter looked at Rita, watching the way she anxiously bounced between her feet. Something about that vision wasn’t good. Something about this decision everyone made to fly them somewhere else changed the future in a bad way.

“Were you finally able to see me?” Peter asked, hoping to pry the answer out of her, or at least press it enough that Rita cracked. She seemed about willing to blurt out what she knew as it was.

Sasha sent him a glare. “Yes. But don’t worry about it.”

“If it’s about me, I have every right to be concerned,” Peter said. Then he tried a different avenue. “Maybe if I know about it, that will help this future change. From he sound of it, it can’t be good.”

“Sasha…” Rita said, nearly vibrating with the need to tell Peter about the vision.

Sasha sighed, closing the blinds angrily. “Rita, if I tell him that means you  _ do not _ tell Juno.”

“I mean…” Rita said, “I can’t really help that…”

“As long as the future changes, it won’t be important for him to know, so just...don’t think about it around him, alright?”

“I guess I’ll try…”

Sasha paced around the room, already packing their things together to head out. She was quiet for so long, Peter was almost sure she’d just dropped the conversation, but then she spoke, and Peter’s worst assumptions came true.

“You died, alright?” Sasha snapped. “I don’t know  _ how _ or what you did, but Juno finds you dead in that weird room and...shit just goes downhill from there.”

“Miasma kills me,” Peter said. It wasn’t even a question at this point. Unless Peter did something that changed it, his future was set in stone. He would die by Miasma’s hand. And then Juno would do something reckless and it would tear this family apart. All because Peter had gotten himself involved.

“That’s just for now, though!” Rita chimed in to lighten the mood. “That’s not all bad to see. All we gotta do is change the future. It’s just like this TV show I watched the other night, where the space warriors have to go through this loop in time to keep their grandkids from dying, who are also their grandparents, which is a really weird choice to make, but I was following it okay, you know? And…”

When they left the hotel, Peter made sure to grab the paper and pen from the bedroom suite, and politely allowed himself to be sequestered to the backseat. That gave him just the space he needed to write a letter. There was only a small chance that he could stop Juno from doing something stupid if this all really went according to their current future, but he would certainly do his best.

He noted, almost sadly, that this was eerily similar to a will, but shook his head. If he started thinking like that, then this really would end in his death. There were still a few things he had up his sleeve. Sasha couldn’t see him much in the future, and Miasma couldn’t do anything to him, at least to his knowledge. If all went according to plan, this whole letter would be for naught, and that was the ideal future. He was simply writing it just in case Juno decided to do something foolish, like he was almost certain to do.

It was a relatively short car ride to the airport. In comparison to their drive from Forks, anything was short. Peter only just finished drafting his letter and had just enough time to drop it into Rita’s purse as they pulled into the parking lot.

Peter was more than happy to nod along with Rita while she chatted about some show or movie, distracting his thoughts with how he was actually going to do this. Sure, it sounded simple enough on paper to ditch a couple of vampires in a busy airport, but if he messed up, they would catch him and he wouldn’t get another chance to run away. But if there was any true first lesson Peter got from Mag about thieving, it was that when trouble arose...he disappeared.

Sasha was keeping an eye on him as they bought tickets and made their way through the airport. That meant Peter’s future must not have changed. And while that was admittedly a bleak outlook on his plan, Peter remained determined.

He waited until they reached security. He and Mag had pulled enough cons to be very familiar with this airport, and Peter was glad absolutely nothing had changed about it. Just by security was a set of bathrooms just beside a hallway that led to a set of stairs that would lead him a level below and within easy access to a cab. If he was fast, efficient, and very very lucky, he could make it to the police station without a vampire on his tail.

“I hate to be a burden,” Peter told Rita once she took a breath. “I have to run to the bathroom before we stand in that line.”

Sasha sighed. “Fine. Go ahead.”

“I’ll stay close to ya! Who knows what secret vampires might be lurking in the bathroom waiting for ya!” Rita said. “Oh! That’s just like this one video game I watched someone online play where the main villain totally pulled a creepy move that honestly was a little weird in the context of the game and hid inside of the main character’s bathroom…”

Peter excused himself quickly into the bathroom and sighed with relief at the view of the other open doorway across from the sinks. With a quick breath to collect himself, Peter dashed out the other end, just looking back to make sure Rita wasn’t looking. He moved fast, nearly running down the stairs, but making sure to keep a low profile. He knew how to disappear into a crowd, and he hoped even a scent as apparently strong as his could be muddled in a crowd this big.

He had to get a little aggressive in the line for the taxis to make sure he got out of there as fast as possible, but he didn’t hear anyone going after him and he made it into the back of a cab in no time at all.

* * *

Peter stood in front of the police station for much longer than he should have. His mind raced through his memories over and over again, replaying all of his failures and reminding him about the feeling of his knife sliding into skin. He hated it. It made his skin crawl. He didn’t want to go inside at all.

But he did anyway, and was pleasantly surprised when he found that the door was unlocked. He thumbed at the knives up his sleeves. He wasn’t entirely sure how much it would do against a vampire, but it was something he felt confident about and he knew he could at least do something with them, even as a distraction.

He didn’t bother trying to hide himself, knowing any attempts at hiding hadn’t worked around vampires in the past and it certainly wouldn’t start now. It was...strange walking into the building and seeing it empty. There were tarps on the ground, ladders and tools scattered around, and a half-painted wall. A few desks were still in place, but they were off kilter, shoved far away from the walls. Overall, though, it was still exactly the same place Peter had left it. He was sure if he just went around the corner, he could see the holding cell he was put in after they arrested him, and just through that door was the bathroom Mag had tried to set up the bomb.

“You’re alone.”

Miasma’s voice nearly made Peter jump out of his skin. He inwardly cursed himself for allowing himself to get so distracted by his past. He had to be focused if he was going to do this. He was sure he could do something to get rid of Miasma. He wasn’t as weak as everyone kept saying he was, and if he just dealt with this, she wouldn’t be such a problem for the Aurinko family anymore.

“Are you complaining?” Peter asked.

She walked around the corner towards the holding cells. Peter didn’t pull out a knife quite yet, keeping himself on guard, but it didn’t look like any member of her army were lurking around the corner with her.

“No,” she said. “If you have a death wish, I won’t stop you from fulfilling it.”

“I wouldn’t quite say death wish,” Peter said.

They made eye contact, and Peter recognized the flash of irritation that he’d come to recognize from Juno. She couldn’t read his mind. That was another thing Peter had that gave him an edge. When people had special talents, they tended to get overconfident, relied on them too much, and when those talents were stripped away, they messed up. Miasma was used to using her mind reading, and if Peter was lucky, she was overly reliant on it and that would make her falter.

“The rest will be here soon enough,” Miasma said and Peter tensed. So she did have a plan of her own. Was she using her army to lure the others here? In that case, he had to act quickly.

“And is this your big plan, then?” Peter asked. “Lure us into some police station and turn me?”

“I had my assistants look into you,” Miasma said and Peter frowned. “Forks High School doesn’t protect its students information very well. It only took minutes to find out who Peter Nureyev really is.”

Peter’s hand twitched for his knife, but he controlled the urge for now. She wasn’t getting any closer and just charging forward would put him at a major disadvantage. She’d see him coming with plenty of time to spare to react.

“A petty thief. An orphan. A murderer.”

“Is there a point to this?” Peter snapped. She wanted to get under his skin and he didn’t want to admit that it was working. He didn’t need her waving his past at him. She’d chosen this police station on purpose, then…

“You talk too much,” Miasma said then. “ _ Everyone _ talks too much. If I had it my way, everyone would just leave each other alone.”

“Is that why you have so many...assistants?” Peter asked, hoping it would get on her nerves. If she got angry, she was more likely to mess up. But it seemed they were both playing that game.

“When I turn you, I will rip out your tongue,” Misma said matter-of-factly. It wasn’t so much of a threat as it was a promise, like she was fully confident this would go her way. “And while you turn, that shield of yours will go down and I will get what I want from you. I always do. You are capable, and will do well, under the right tweaks.”

She was so confident in what she was saying. Peter had no idea what this shield everyone was talking about was, but it was some kind of innate ability he hadn’t known about before. He wasn’t even sure if it would drop under any circumstances, but Miasma was just so  _ sure _ , Peter didn’t doubt that she was right. The thought of someone worming into his mind to control it made his stomach churn.

“Do you think he suffered?” Miasma asked. “Mag Ransom?”

“Don’t,” Peter spoke before he realized he was, his voice low.

“I don’t need to read your mind to know you keep thinking about it. And so young. He must have been your first. Do you know why I have so many assistants, Peter Nureyev?”

Peter stayed quiet, eyes darting around to think of the best way to get through the maze of desks to do something to Miasma. It was obvious at this point that she had planned for this and Peter might not make it out. But he also knew Miasma had played herself. He was luring the Aurinko family to this spot. She likely wanted to make Juno watch him turn. That was how Sasha saw the family fall apart. But if Peter was lucky, if he could stall her long enough...maybe it wouldn’t need to go that way at all.

“They were all tired of thinking for themselves,” Miasma continued when he didn’t answer. “You all think I control them against their wills, but each of them  _ wants _ to be controlled. They don’t have to think. About who they hurt, about the people they left behind, about pasts they’re trying to outrun. You’ve hurt a lot of people. I could hear the thoughts of Omar Khan from a mile away.”

Peter gritted his teeth. He had a route. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t need to charge her, but he knew where to go if he did need to. He was trying so hard not to listen to her, but her words weighed heavily on him. All of the things he’d tucked away for later were bursting at the seams of his mind, begging to come out. And Peter would admit, there was a time when he would have jumped at the chance to not think again, to file every thought away with ease. As it was, the offer was still alluring.

“And when I turn you, you won’t even spare that pain a second thought.”

She shifted, then, a far off look on her face, reading someone’s thoughts. They must have been close, maybe even the Aurinkos, because in the next second she’d lunged. Peter heard the screams of moving desks on hard floor, and a blur, before Miasma was right in front of him. He reacted on pure instinct, knife already in hand before stabbing forward with all of his strength. He only noticed afterward he’d gone for her neck out of reflex.

What he did notice immediately, was the feeling of his knife  _ breaking _ on impact with her diamond hard skin. It didn’t shatter, but a crack formed, the impact so hard it caught him off guard and the knife tumbled out of his hand.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Miasma said low, grabbing onto Peter’s hand. The look of anger was clear on her face, but that was the last thing he would see clearly for a long time. She squeezed his arm, just a pulse on her end, but it was more than enough to snap the bones in his wrist in just a second. An explosion of needle sharp pain enveloped his whole arm.

Peter had never really known what it felt like to fear for his life before that moment. Sure, in the past, he would do something that probably risked his life, but he was never really afraid. He always trusted either himself or Mag to keep him safe, and that had never failed him before. But the helpless feeling in his gut when his bone snapped without any resistance shook him. And there wasn’t anyone to help him now. He fought back a scream of pain, forcing it to be stuck in his throat. And he was very, very afraid.

Peter knew there wasn’t anything he could do, really, against a vampire now, but that didn’t stop him from pulling out another knife. He didn’t get a chance to use it, however, before Miasma tossed him like a rag doll across the room. Peter at least had the mental capacity to tuck his broken arm close to his body just before his back slammed into something hard, sliding off and landing hard on his side on the ground. His breath had definitely been knocked out of him and he struggled to get it back, his mind racing for a way out of this. Or at the very least a way to spin this in his favor.

She ran over to him and Peter instinctively flinched, but she didn’t do anything. Peter finally sucked in a breath, looking up at her, but she wasn’t even looking at him. She stood right in front of him, staring at the door, and Peter only had a wonder what she was doing for another second before Juno ran inside. Peter’s stomach sank at the same time his heart fluttered with hope.

Peter breathed through his teeth, unable to bring himself to look at Juno’s face. Now wasn’t the time for him to get distracted by his complete distaste for feeling helpless. All it really took was one minute with Miasma before he got the gist of just how fragile he was, but he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of him making it out of this situation. He refused to die in this police station.

“Miasma,” Juno growled, voice low and far more threatening than Peter had ever heard it. “You still have a chance to let this go. You can walk away.”

“And what do I have to fear from you?” Miasma asked. “I was right about you. You’ve gotten attached and you’re making mistakes. Where is your family?”

Peter was honestly surprised that Juno was alone, but he did remember something about Juno being one of the faster vampires in his family. Where they were all standing, it looked like Miasma’s plan was going flawlessly, and Peter just hoped Juno had read his letter and was thinking things through logically.

“Step away from him,” Juno said, taking a small step forward.

With that Miasma very purposefully took a step back, which happened to be directly over Peter’s leg. She stomped down on it and Peter couldn’t stop the scream that slipped past his throat as he felt the  _ snap _ through his ankle all the way in his skull.

Peter didn’t fully see what was happening, but he did know in a second, the pressure was off and there was a deafening crash of wood nearby. Breathing through his teeth in an attempt to recover from the pain, Peter finally opened his eyes and tried to find the two, and despite how much noise they were making, it was hard to place them. They moved so fast and Peter’s mind kept trying to focus on the pain more than anything else.

Finally, they paused across the room, close to the door, just long enough for Peter to see Juno. His lip was snarled in rage and it looked like he wasn’t fully aware of himself in the fight. Peter didn’t really know what to expect from a vampire fight, but it looked absolutely ruthless. Miasma looked like she was in the middle of trying to rip Juno’s arm out of its socket, and Juno wasn’t getting enough leverage to break away.

Peter reacted on instinct. He didn’t want Juno to die protecting him, and Peter had a guess as to how skewed this fight would be if Miasma got that arm off of him. So Peter used the only tool he had at his disposal to distract Miasma, hoping it wouldn’t distract Juno as well.

Using the knife he still had in hand, he cut into the back of his arm, wincing at it but his broken bones were throbbing enough that it just went to the back of his mind. Peter immediately saw the difference in front of him, both vampires snapping their heads to stare at him.

“I believe we were having a conversation, Miasma,” Peter said, trying to keep his voice even despite every fiber in his body wanting him to just fall apart.

But the plan worked. Miasma left Juno behind, her reaction just a fraction faster than Juno, and Peter started when she ran and suddenly appeared directly in front of him. He didn’t have time to react, and he certainly didn’t have the strength to do anything about it, when she lunged forward. Peter didn’t fully recognize it at first, but he eventually felt the piercing pain in his neck and his blood ran cold.

The last coherent thought Peter had was when he caught sight of Juno over Miasma’s shoulder, watching as his expression morphed from anger to complete terror. And then Peter felt liquid fire hit his neck and all Peter could feel was pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So close. Meyer isn't all that good herself at solving all of her issues in a bout of violence, and fights are very hard to write so hopefully I'm doing a good job. We are close. Next chapter, I had to rewrite a few times to get it right but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, especially the ending.


	20. The Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juno comes in to save the day.

_ Juno, _

_ I miscalculated. This never happened until I met you, or maybe I just never noticed it before. I’m sure I’m making a mistake now, but I have to try.  _

_ Please don’t let me be the thing that tears apart your family after decades of Buddy’s hard work. No matter what happens after this incredibly stupid decision, don’t let that future Sasha saw come true, and promise me that you won’t let Miasma get the better of you. _

_ And I’m sorry. Maybe it would be smarter to wait and make a plan together, but I can’t picture myself running away for the rest of my life. Miasma can’t read my mind and for as long as she’s focused on me, I plan to use it to my advantage. At the end of this letter, you’ll find an address. I’m still not sure how she found it, but I recognized it from Sasha’s visions. She’s at the police station where Mag died. I expect you to get there as fast as you can. I’d like to think I can handle myself and so my life won’t be in danger, but the first rule of thieving is to never go in without a backup plan. _

_ I will distract her as best as I can, and I trust you to do the rest. _

_ Signed, _ _   
_ _ Your better half, Peter Nureyev _

* * *

Juno knew something was wrong the second he got to the airport. He could feel Rita’s anxious thoughts from a mile away. He didn’t even need to go all that far into the airport to find them. And maybe he’d been excited to see Peter again, safe and sound, unlike all the stress images he’d come up with on the entire drive here. But Peter wasn’t there. Rita was babbling something about the bathroom, how fifteen minutes was such a long time, how she should’ve checked sooner.

The important thing was that Peter was missing. Juno fought the urge to snap at Rita when he saw that the bathroom had an opening on the other side. It didn’t take a mind reader to figure out what Peter had done, but for the life of him, Juno couldn’t figure out  _ why _ . He never thought he’d be left behind after one of Peter’s disappearing acts.

But then Rita started rummaging in her purse for her stress snacks, and Juno noticed a neatly folded piece of paper that reeked of Peter. He snatched it up before Rita even noticed it herself and Juno swore, reading it as fast as he could. 

Peter was so fucking stupid, and it might just get him killed.

Juno didn’t even really need the address. He was already planning on following Peter’s scent and tracking the thoughts of the people around him, but the direction was nice. Sasha had apparently been looking over maps of the place and at least recognized where in Phoenix this building was supposed to be.

Juno thanked whatever gods there might have been that it was sunset as he started running, leaving Sasha and Rita behind, despite their protests, to update Buddy. They could follow him later, he had to save Peter now. He only noticed later that he’d left behind Peter’s real name with them, but he didn’t let himself dwell on it.

It didn’t take very long at all to get to the right part of the city. Juno was far enough behind him that there weren’t a lot of thoughts of Peter in people’s heads, but there were a few. The building he went into was closed for renovations and he certainly didn’t look like someone going in for repairs. From what Juno could tell from the memories, Peter looked...scared. That made Juno go faster. He stuck to the shadows and alleys mostly, waiting until people looked away before he got too brave. If he were still alive, he was sure he’d get a headache later from all the strain he was putting on his head and his mind reading.

As he climbed up the few steps to get to the building, he heard the crash of wood and immediately surged inside, secret be damned.

The first thing Juno saw was Peter. He was dazed, on the ground, next to a broken desk, and he was keeping an obviously broken arm close to his chest. But he was okay. Most importantly, he was alert. He wasn’t breathing well, but his eyes were focused. Juno almost let that make him believe they were in the clear.

The second thing Juno saw was Miasma standing in front of him. He could read her thoughts clear as day, just as she could read his. She was confident, cocky, sure of herself. She didn’t think he would make it out alive, at least not with her assistants in the wings. And she would have what she wanted.

“Miasma,” Juno growled, letting his anger drip from his words like poison. “You still have a chance to let this go. You can walk away.”

He winced when he heard her ear-splitting laugh right in his brain. “And what do I have to fear from you?” she asked out loud. “I was right about you. You’ve gotten attached and you’re making mistakes. Where is your family?”

Juno was thankful that he’d run off without his family. Miasma was entirely focused on him and Peter right now, positive that they were alone. Whatever Buddy had planned to get rid of the assistants that Juno knew were lurking in the darkest corners around this building, he hoped he was good and he hoped it was fast.

“Step away from him,” Juno said, taking a small step forward. He hoped he was intimidating enough to warrant some kind of fear response from her

Instead, Miasma took a purposeful step back, foot grinding hard onto Peter’s leg. His broken scream shattered any resolve Juno had to keep a conversation going with Miasma. Juno lunged all the way across the room, shoving Miasma into the nearest wall and off of Peter, who’s screams had resolved into whimpers and seething breaths. Miasma shoved Juno off before trying to tackle him onto a table, but he dodged and grabbed onto her shirt to fling her across the room. Fighting Miasma was...difficult. He got into quite a few fights in the past as a vampire, and they used to all be easy. He could see what an opponent was going to do before they did it and react. He could win a fight effortlessly. But she could read his mind, too. If he wasn't careful, he could slip himself into an endless cycle of reading her mind, which was reading his mind which was reading hers, etc.

When he ran forward to swing his arm in a punch, she was faster and gripped hard onto his arm and pinned him by it, trying to get him onto his knees, but Juno wasn’t giving her the leverage she needed to finish the move. When that didn’t work, she tried getting different positioning to rip his arm out from his shoulder and he twisted as much as he could with her to prevent it. The whole while, her voice coiled around in his head like a snake. _I will have what I want._

And then suddenly there was blood. Sickly sweet and familiar as hell, nearly enough to make him drop everything and run to drink every last drop. Honestly, he probably would have if Miasma wasn’t holding onto him like she was. When Juno looked at Peter, helpless and splayed on the ground but a gash from a knife on the back of his arm, all Juno could think was how fucking stupid he was.

“I believe we were having a conversation, Miasma,” Peter said, barely containing a wavering voice as his body wobbled with the effort to keep upright.

Miasma reacted just a fraction of a second faster than Juno, her thoughts immediately shifting to a blind thirst combined with another part of a plan that had Juno desperately reaching out to stop her. He wasn't fully confident in the moment if the reason he tried so hard was because of her plans or because he just wanted Peter all to himself. But she was just out of reach. Peter made eye contact with Juno over her shoulder as she knelt in front of him, her head tilted over his neck. 

Juno smelled the blood, and then the venom.

Juno rarely ever got mad enough to see red. The only other time this had happened was when he found Ben and, honestly, he still didn’t remember all of that fight with his mother, verbal or otherwise. And Juno felt that familiar numb feeling zing through his limbs at just the sight in front of him. He didn't even care enough to hear thoughts anymore.

And that was all Juno really remembered clearly for a while. One of the good things about being a vampire was that he couldn’t feel physical pain. He’d been in a lot of fights before he turned, and it was never fun to bandage bloody knuckles or nurse bruises when he went too far. And now that he was turned, fighting was easier than ever and it got harder and harder not to give into the impulse to absolutely lose it.

He wasn’t sure what he did to Miasma, but it was a lot of punches, ripping, and pulling. Juno knew how to kill vampires all too well. Not only had he killed quite a few, but he’d considered how hard it would be to let himself die when shit got really tough many years ago. And he used as much of that information as he could to try and annihilate Miasma as thoroughly as possible.

It wasn’t until Jet managed to finally pull him away from her that he centered back in on himself.The first thing he noticed was that nothing...looked quite the same anymore and as he calmed down a little further, he figured out what it was when he tried to blink. He managed to get away from Jet, who still stayed close to keep watch over him, and reached up to touch his right eye. Or, at least where his right eye was. It felt like jagged, broken rocks around the eye socket...and then empty. Somewhere in that fight, Miasma must have ripped out his eye.

The second thing he noticed was that all of his family had converged on Miasma after he’d been ripped away. Buddy and Vespa were in the process of getting all of her limbs separated while Rita and Sasha got a fire going in the corner. Jet was trying to get his attention, and Alessandra and Mick were dashing in and out with the limbs and heads of various other vampires. Her assistants. It didn't take long for their thoughts to finally reach him. They were just a few minutes behind Juno, but they got jumped by all of her assistants, who apparently didn't seem to care much about getting caught. But it was dark enough and the Aurinkos were fast and strong enough that they weren't much of a problem. They obviously didn’t need his help.

And that’s when he noticed the third thing. Peter was screaming. If Juno had any blood in him, it would have run cold as he whipped around and saw Peter alone on the ground, curling in on himself and beginning to convulse. That was why Jet had pulled him away.

“Peter,” Juno barely even breathed out as he dashed closer, kneeling down beside Peter. He was overwhelmed almost immediately by the scent of Peter’s blood, so intoxicating and delicious and blood churning and horrifying all at once.

All it took was a cursory glance to see what was wrong with him. His right wrist was...crumpled inhumanly. Maybe shattered. His ankle was broken, the bone nearly coming out of the skin but barely staying in. He had small cuts all over him from the glass all around them. And then there was his neck.

The bite was bleeding as much as it was foaming. Miasma hadn’t let him off easy. Juno could clearly see where all of her teeth had bit, upper and lower jaw converging, but not hitting an artery. She hadn’t wanted to kill Peter immediately, rather she wanted to make this a slow, painful experience for both of them. But Juno could hear Peter’s heart through the screams and the begging. It was slowing as the venom creeped into his system.

“We got here as fast as we could,” Jet reported beside Juno, who barely heard what he was saying. “Her assistants stopped us at the door. Said she was busy. We took care of them easily enough.”

“How long was I…” Juno trailed off.

“From the sound of it, you were only fighting for a few minutes,” Jet said. “He still has time.”

“Vespa…” Juno fell to his knees at Peter’s side. Peter immediately looked up at Juno with wide, panicked eyes. He looked torn between using his good arm to protect his broken one or latching onto Juno as if he could help him.

“Juno, your eye,” Buddy said, coming over to Juno’s side with Vespa, who immediately started looking over Peter. Juno could hear the fire in the background going. He trusted his family to take care of the rest. All that mattered now was helping Peter. But the thoughts running through Vespa's head weren't sounding good.

“What can I do?” Juno asked, choosing to ignore his eye for now. Peter was the one on death’s door. And the way he was screaming...Stars, it shattered Juno’s resolve every time he thought he finally managed to gather it. 

“Venom’s in his system,” Vespa reported. “He’s almost at the point of no return.”

“Vespa,  _ what can I do? _ ” Juno was nearly screaming at her and he knew that wasn’t fair but this was  _ Peter’s goddamn life at stake _ . 

“Someone will need to suck the venom out,” Vespa said, looking up to make eye contact with him.

“Juno,” Buddy reached out to him, but didn’t touch, which Juno was grateful for. He already flinched badly with that small movement. “At this point...it might be better to let it happen.”

Juno looked down at Peter, who was still staring at him in panic and so much pain and his neck was fizzing even more. Both Buddy and Vespa's thoughts were coming through loud and clear; they both thought Juno should just let Peter turn, rather than risk drinking his blood.

“He deserves a choice,” Juno said. He allowed himself to smell the area again and wanted to vomit with how badly he wanted to drink Peter’s blood. He knew it would be bad when he finally got a good smell of it, but this was horrifying. He didn’t know if he could trust himself if he got close enough to Peter to even taste it, let alone start sucking out another vampire’s venom.

“Then you need to move now,” Vespa said. “He’s got minutes left, Juno.”

Buddy must have sensed Juno’s panic. He could hear Peter’s heart beat slower with each passing second. If Juno messed this up, if he couldn’t stop himself, Peter would die, no coming back. If he hesitated too long, Peter would become a vampire without even a say in the matter.

“I understand your hesitation,” Buddy said. And Juno did know that she knew. Peter screamed again, shattering any of Juno’s resolve he had built up, and Juno couldn’t help but wonder how the hell Buddy survived when she turned everyone else. How did she get herself to stop drinking, how did she sit back and listen to this suffering without breaking? Buddy continued, looking right into Juno’s eye, “You will be able to stop yourself. Or, if you choose, you can be there with him. And if you don’t trust yourself, I’ll do it. You know you can trust me.” And Juno did know. Buddy and Vespa had such strong resolve, something like this would be no problem for them at all.

“No, no...I…” Juno muttered.

“Juno!” Peter screamed his name and Juno gritted his teeth. Peter finally latched onto Juno’s shirt, staring at him, silently pleading for all of this to end. Juno knew the pain he was going through all too well. And he would do anything to make it stop.

“I’ll do it,” Juno said. “I can...I can do it.”

“I’ll be here,” Buddy said. “Vespa, darling, go see if you can find his eye, we might be able to save it.”

Vespa immediately set off and Buddy nodded at him. She had every faith in him, even if Vespa had her doubts, and Juno could feel her confidence from across Peter’s body. He convulsed even more and Juno knew he didn’t have long to get the venom out. He had to start soon or it would be too late.

“I’ve got you, Peter,” Juno said, slowly leaning closer. He couldn’t help the thrill of rage that went through him when he could smell not only Peter’s intoxicating blood but also something that was so intensely Miasma. That was all he needed to gather his courage and get even closer.

He took an unnecessary breath to steady himself before he placed his own teeth into Miasma’s bite marks. Juno had tasted human blood before and he knew how much he preferred it to animal blood. But nothing could have prepared him for tasting Peter Nureyev. It wasn’t even the taste, really. It just sated something so deep in Juno, satisfied an urge he wasn’t even aware of that he forgot what he was even worried about for a second.

All at once, he was so hungry or thirsty or whatever that he couldn’t think of anything but the blood on his tongue. He caught himself getting a little annoyed at the disgusting taste of Miasma’s venom, but he knew that if he drank for long enough, he could get rid of it entirely. And he felt...warm. He actually felt warm! He hadn’t felt warm or cold or anything for decades and he was immediately addicted to it. Getting close to Peter,  _ kissing _ Peter had given him a similar feeling, but it was a simulacrum compared to what Juno was feeling now. He held Peter closer to him as if that would get him the blood faster, get that damn extra taste out faster, but he tensed when he heard Buddy’s voice.

“You’re almost there, Juno.”

He felt a surge of protectiveness through him as he gripped Peter even tighter, as if Buddy wanted to take him away. Juno wouldn’t let her. He needed this blood and he needed every drop. And, finally, the taste of Miasma ran out and it was pure, unadulterated Peter Nureyev. Juno sighed, drinking even faster.

“That’s it, Juno, you got all of it out,” Buddy said and Juno couldn’t help but glare at her, fighting the urge to hiss knowing that it would take his mouth away from Peter. “Juno. You can stop yourself, I know you can.”

The thing was...Juno didn’t want to stop. He wanted nothing more than to lose himself in the taste and smell of Peter Nureyev and chase this warmth until its end. When Juno felt a hand on him, he damn near bit off the offending limb in his rage...until he figured out its source.

“Ju...no…” Peter breathed out, sounding so weak that it took nearly all of his strength to get the word out. Juno felt him go limp in his arms and immediately snapped back to himself. He wished he could have said that the blood turned sour in his mouth, but he still wanted more than anything to keep drinking. It took every ounce of self control he had and likely ever will have ever again to pull his mouth away from Peter.

Peter was still in his arms, eyes closed and far, far too small.

“Buddy…” Juno’s voice wavered as he spoke, not daring to look away from Peter, as if that would make him suddenly die.

“He’s still alive,” Buddy said. And she was right. Juno could hear his breathing, hear his heart beating, and Juno thought he could have cried. He wanted to push Peter away as far as possible to ensure he couldn’t hurt him again, but couldn’t bear the thought of separating from him for even a second. “You did great, Juno.”

“I almost…”

“But you didn’t.” Buddy put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her just enough that Peter was still in his line of sight. “That’s what counts, right?”

“That was a lot of blood,” Juno said dumbly.

“We’ll need to call an ambulance soon,” Vespa said, walking back to them. “Miasma’s nearly all gone and we have enough money on hand to bribe the staff not to ask questions. The blood loss alone will be enough to kill him if he doesn’t get more.”

“Right, yes,” Buddy said, standing up and collecting herself. She pulled out a phone and all Juno could do was hold Peter’s unconscious body closer, like that would save him. He was still breathing...Stars, Juno nearly messed up so bad… He hadn’t expected it to be so bad, so all consuming...

“I couldn’t find your eye,” Vespa said. “I think she shattered it. One last act of revenge.”

“Right,” Juno said. He’d all but forgotten about his eye with everything. “Uh...yeah, that’s fine. We’ll figure something out.”

Rita ran over while Buddy was calling the ambulance, offering her apologies and enough chatter to keep Juno distracted, even while holding Peter, until Peter could get the help he needed. Juno was numb as he barely allowed the medics to take Peter away from him. He let Buddy do the sweet talking necessary to get him in the ambulance with him. He didn’t even think to remember he should have an issue when the blood bag came out, but he was too focused on Peter for it to matter. He could hear the thoughts of the medics in the ambulance, but he couldn't bring himself to care about their confusion and suspicion.

In a matter of minutes, Peter was laying safe in a hospital bed with plenty of blood getting back into his system, his bones at least beginning to be reset, and...after a discussion that weighed the pros and cons… Captain Khan was called and apparently already on his way, though Juno could only imagine what he was thinking about. And through it all, Juno adamantly refused to leave Peter’s side or let go of his good hand. That last part took much more money to accomplish than convincing the doctors that the clear bite marks on Peter’s neck weren’t something to consider too deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was a little late. I had D&D, and my brain apparently can only be creative on one thing at a time. But here we have this chapter! Decided it would be fun to do Juno's perspective for this bit. And after this, only one chapter left, then the epilogue! Get excited!


	21. An Impasse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up and deals with the aftermath of all of his decisions.

Peter’s mouth felt like cotton when he woke up, and he winced as he processed the sharp, aching pain in his arm and leg. It took Peter a few more moments to look around and take stock, and when he did, his anxiety immediately spiked.

He was in a hospital room, hooked up to several machines, with several casts on his limbs, and certainly no easy escape route. Trying to sit upright only proved to make him dizzy and make the pain in his arm worse. He itched at his neck, only to find that there was a bandage there. His brain was fuzzy as he tried to remember what had happened, and then his eyes fell on Juno, across the room.

Juno Steel, who likely had just saved his life, was slumped in a chair, asleep, or playing at it, but for some reason he had a white bandage covering his right eye.

“Peter.”

Peter then noticed the other person in the room with him. Omar Khan was sitting directly next to him, looking ready to stand up but also like he was afraid to move, and it broke Peter’s heart just to look at him. Peter said the first words that came to mind.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I should be the one apologizing.” Khan was uncomfortable in his seat, shifting and unsure. “I should’ve tried harder to make sure you were happy and comfortable in Forks, I don’t blame ya for wanting to run away.”

“No, I…” Peter hesitated. What was he supposed to say? He’d finally decided that maybe he wanted to stay somewhere and he was forced to leave. But now he had a chance to fix those mistakes and he didn’t even know what to say. He didn’t want to lie but also there was no way he could just tell Khan about everything that had happened to him. Not to mention there was absolutely no way Khan could forgive him for pulling a knife on him in front of his own kids.

“It’s okay,” Khan said. “You don’t have to want me around. I just came to make sure you were alright. We’ll figure out all the paperwork stuff later and you won’t have to see me again.”

“No, Khan, I…” Peter sat upright as much as he could, wincing at the pain that hit his body and getting a little dizzy. “I want to...” But this wasn’t about what Peter wanted, was it? “You have every right to tell me no, to not trust me around your family again, but I...Is it selfish that I want to try again?”

Khan was quiet for a while and Peter was honestly getting a little worried that maybe Khan wouldn’t forgive him. Maybe Khan didn’t want him back in his family after all. Maybe Peter had messed up this second chance he’d had at...something familial, whatever it was that he was making with the Khans. 

“You want to try again?”

“Yes,” Peter admitted, and saying it made him much more relieved than he ever thought it would. “I shouldn’t have done what I did, I’m very sorry. You have been...so much for me, more than I deserve, I think. And I’m very grateful for that. I...wasn’t sure after...well, you know. You’re not afraid of me even after what I did to my last...father figure. Even after I said those awful things and threatened you like that.”

This was awkward and not the proper words to put out, but Peter had always been like this with Khan. Peter had always been grateful that Khan was so completely different from Mag. He probably wouldn’t have been remotely approachable if he was like Mag. Where Mag was confident and shared these secrets with Peter like they had been equals, Khan was just...an awkward man trying to be a dad when he didn’t have all the tricks yet. Mag had the false confidence that got him through everything and made Peter think he was a better father than he really was. And Khan was actively trying to be the best father he could be. And while Peter certainly wasn’t an easy case to take on and didn’t expect to want to accept any other kind of parental figure in his life...Khan had managed to slip in and affect him. 

“That whole mess wasn’t your fault,” Khan tried.

Peter allowed himself a small laugh. “Someday I might get around to telling you the real story, not just the one that got me out of going to prison. I am truly sorry about what I said to you. I…” Peter took a deep breath, pulling out the prepared reason he made on that long car ride down to Phoenix. Again, he didn’t like lying, but it was better than the alternative. “I was getting close to you and to Juno and...it scared me. It felt safer to try to get away from you. Obviously, that’s not true. But I understand if you don’t want someone like me near your family again.”

“I’ll admit they’re rattled up,” Khan said. “But Noor and I had a long conversation, on our own and with the kids. After we heard you were here, in a  _ hospital _ , of all places...everyone was worried. Thing’ll have to change, of course, and I’m not going to allow anymore weapons in my house. And I mean it, if I find one, and especially if it’s close to any of the little ones...” He was gruff, but he was stiff, like he was using it as an excuse not to get emotional.

Peter nearly choked at the thought of going back, of Khan still trusting him after everything. “You would let me back in?” he asked, voice as small as his body felt in that stupid hospital bed.

“As Noor would put it, it’d be stupid of us to waste the chance of having two people with similarly thick heads under the same roof. We’re too similar not to be family, Pete. Family make mistakes. Sometimes big ones. But family also knows when to take someone back, when someone deserves a second chance. Now, relax, you’re stressing me out with all this sitting up. I’m gonna go get a doctor, since you’re up.”

He got up while Peter nodded. There was a lot there that would still need to be patched up, but this was a good start, Peter thought. He’d never been in a situation where he could mess up and try something again. It was always a threat, he was always taught that if he made a mistake he needed to run and never look back. First rule of thieving; mistakes are only a problem if you’re too slow to outrun them. It certainly didn’t come easy, going against these rules of thieving, but felt good to know that he could.

And again Khan looked at Juno, pretending to be asleep.

“I take back all that I said about Steel,” Khan said, following his gaze. “Kid’s refused to leave your side since before I got here. He’s a good hen, if you decide to keep him around.”

“Noted,” Peter said, watching as Khan left the room and Juno peeked his eye open.

“You’re, uh, you’re awake,” Juno said quietly from across the room.

“It seems so,” Peter said. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a few hours,” Juno said. “Khan got here not too long ago, actually.”

Peter knew they didn’t have a lot of time before Khan was back, and he had a few questions he needed to get out before Juno tried to pretend to sleep again.

“Miasma?” He asked, throat dry.

“She’s gone. Burned every last piece of her.” Juno spoke the words with such venom, such disgust, that it made Peter shiver.

Peter nodded. “She...I don’t remember a lot, but she bit me.”

“I…” Juno shifted in his seat. “I got it out. So, no vampire, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“How did you…” Peter had a feeling he knew how but he had to know.

“I had to pull it out, before it got too bad,” Juno said. “I had to drink some of your blood.”

“Juno, I…” Peter knew what that might have done to Juno. And somewhere in his memories he could remember Juno’s mouth on his neck, and definitely not in the pleasant way. But Peter could hear footsteps coming close and he knew they were nearly out of time and he had one more question to ask. “Your eye?”

Juno laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “She got it. In the fight. I guess I wasn’t paying much attention. Shattered it. There’s no getting it back.”

“Juno, I’m…” Peter stopped his apology short, and then Juno went back to pretending to be asleep as the doctor came in and started talking to him.

Peter absently answered the questions, his mind still racing with questions for Juno. He’d underestimated Miasma in the worst way possible and everyone paid the price for it, Juno a bit more permanently. But he was still here with him. Juno eventually faked waking up with all the noise, but allowed Khan to be at Peter’s beside for the time being, hovering anxiously and constantly glancing at Peter’s various broken bones.

Peter got the gist of the story Juno’s family had told the hospital from questioning the doctor. After Peter ran away from Forks, he came here to find something familiar and ground himself. Juno’s family followed him in hopes of trying to change his mind. They had a fight in a hotel room and Peter tried to storm away, but he...tripped. Peter had to fight a laugh at that. His number might be up, as far as Juno’s concerned, but he wasn’t  _ that _ clumsy. He tripped down a flight of stairs and out a window, apparently. It explained his wounds from the glass, his arm (nearly shattered) and his leg, and there was something about clean slices on his neck that barely missed an artery. Apparently Juno got a couple shards in his eye trying to go after him, and there was nothing they could do to save it. The doctor wasn’t worried about the lack of blood on the bandage, which led Peter to think he might be paid off, and Khan wasn’t observant enough to ask about it.

“You should count yourself lucky, young man,” the doctor said and Peter just nodded politely. “You should get out of here in no time, but it was a very close call.”

“I’ll strive to be more careful,” Peter said. With that, the doctor checked whatever Peter was hooked up to, wrote some stuff down on a chart, and then made his way out.

It was silent for a while before Khan awkwardly cleared his throat. “I think I’m, uh, gonna go see what kind of stuff they’ve got in the cafeteria here. Just...don’t do anything stupid.” He said that specifically looking at Juno, who nodded at the orders, and then Khan left, leaving Peter alone with Juno.

“I fell down the stairs?” Peter asked, almost laughing. Juno did laugh, coming up to Peter’s bedside and pulling up a chair so he was close to Peter. From this close, Peter noticed that Juno’s eye was a very bright red. Peter’s blood was still in his system.

“Look, we had to come up with something,” Juno said. “It’s not too far-fetched.”

“Excuse you, I am the pinnacle of grace. I do not trip.”

“Whatever,” Juno scoffed. “Some of the shit wasn’t all that easy to explain away, glass is an easy lie to fill in some gaps.”

“Thank you, for what you did. I can’t imagine how hard it was to stop.”

“It was nearly impossible,” Juno admitted, and he looked guilty as he said it. “I...I don’t think I’ve ever nearly lost myself like that before. I’m sorry, I think I took a little more than I needed to.”

“Well, I’m alive, aren’t I?” Peter asked. “I should apologize for what I’ve put you through. I was stupid, thinking I could handle her on my own.”

“Yeah, I’ll give you that,” Juno said. “It was a really stupid move on your part.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Peter said. “If you don’t mind...may I see your eye?”

“It’s not pretty,” Juno said. “I haven’t had the time to make it less messy, so it’s a little…”

“I would still like to see it.”

Juno nodded and carefully started unsticking the medical tape from his head and after a moment of hesitation, lowered the bandage. Peter couldn’t help but lean even closer to look at it further. He always thought that Juno’s skin felt like stone, but he certainly hadn’t expected it to act like it. There were jagged, hard edges, like cracked stone, piercing into a hole in his head. It was haunting to look at, a dark hole where his eye should be and wasn’t anymore.

Peter didn’t fight it as he brought his good hand up to touch it, looking at Juno to wait for consent. When he got a nod, he tentatively reached forward and lightly touched one of the jagged edges. The more he looked at it, the more he decided it resembled glass, like the pieces of a broken mirror left hanging over a now empty frame. It was chilling to look at an empty eye socket, especially knowing the beautiful eye that had been there before.

“They used to be blue, you know,” Juno said absently, taking hold of Peter’s wrist. In Juno’s stable hand, Peter realized he’d been shaking. “Ben always used to say that was the one good thing we got from Ma. It was one of the few things I missed about my time being a human.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter said. “If I hadn’t been a reckless idiot, this never would have happened to you and I…”

“Stop,” Juno said, his free hand going to swipe some stray tears from Peter’s eyes. “You don’t need to cry over me. I barely even notice a difference. Besides, this makes doing eyeliner way easier.”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh at that, but he still couldn’t bring himself to look away from the eye socket.

“Rita’s already looking into fashionable eye patches,” Juno said, probably to lighten the mood. “Honestly, it doesn’t bother me. Even one of my eyes is probably better than both of yours anyway.”

Peter’s mind was racing, thinking about all of the ways this could have been avoided. He’d been reckless with Miasma, he was so, painfully stupid and he got cocky with his skills. He still remembered the chill that shot down his spine when he felt the knife crack over Miasma’s diamond hard skin. If he hadn’t been so weak, Juno wouldn’t have had to come to his rescue. Wouldn’t have lost his eye. Wouldn’t have had that guilty look in his eye when he’d said he nearly drank Peter dry. Compared to Juno and the rest of the vampires, Peter was frail. He was a paper doll surrounded by sharp scissors, waiting to be cut.

The itch in Peter’s neck reminded him of how close he’d really been to this undeath. This path that could make him stronger, make it so he wasn’t a risk to the people he cared about.

“You should’ve let me turn,” Peter said and Juno furrowed his brow.

“Are you serious?” Juno asked. “You don’t know what that whole change is like, it’s…”

“Painful,” Peter said, nodding. He had flashes of memories. White hot pain, begging it to stop, clinging to Juno like he could somehow make it better. And he had. But nothing could erase the fire he felt in his neck from his memory, the thought that this must be what Hell feels like.

Juno stared right into his eyes when he spoke next, both of his hands going to Peter’s. He held onto his hand around the cast and all Peter could think about was how fragile and easily broken he was.

“I never got a choice in this,” Juno said. “One second I was dying in a ditch, left to rot. And the next, I was a vampire. No one asked me if I wanted this. And for a really long time, I didn’t. I resented Buddy, I hated everyone and everything, and I got really close to some bad decisions that would have ended it all. I didn’t want to take that choice away from you.”

“What if that’s a choice I want to make?” Peter asked.

“You don’t…” Juno swallowed thickly. “You’ve got a whole life ahead of you, Peter. There’s a whole list of stuff I wish I’d done before I turned and I don’t want that to be taken from you.”

“I can still do all of those things,” Peter said. “I don’t want you to keep treating me like I’m made of glass, about to break any second. You said that my number is up, and maybe it really is.” And he didn’t want to say it out loud, but the thought of himself aging while Juno stayed the same terrified him. He didn’t want to face a day like that.

“Don’t make this choice just because of me,” Juno said. “We don’t even know how long you and I are gonna last or if we will much longer. I...I love you, Peter, but we both are a little fucked up and no amount of love is about to change that. And no amount of death, either. This is a choice that lasts much, much longer than anything else. It’s permanent, and you might decide you regret it.”

Peter smiled, freeing his hand from Juno to reach up and caress Juno’s cheek.

“What if I want to do this for myself?” Peter asked. “What if I’ve weighed the pros and cons and it turns out I’d rather be a vampire? I’m sure you’re aware of how that would help my...chosen profession. It’s got its downsides, yes, but living forever doesn’t sound all that bad.”

“I want you to think about it,” Juno said. “Really, really think about it. Like sit on it for a few months think about it. You’re...really young to be thinking about forever. And get back to me. If you really want it after sitting on it for a while...I’ll...consider helping you out. Knowing you, if you’re really that interested in it, you’ll do something dangerous to get it done.”

“Perhaps,” Peter said.

“And trust me when I say you don’t wanna be seventeen forever,” Juno said. “Wait until you’re at least eighteen. Please.”

“Fine,” Peter said. “I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

“As long as you promise not to be upset when I bring it up again.”

Juno thought for a moment. “I’ll try. Really try. I might get a little fed up with you.” That last part was joking, with that small smile on his face, and Peter smiled right back. 

With his hand still on Juno’s face, he leaned forward, bringing their lips closer, but he decided to wait, looking into Juno’s eye, asking for permission. And Juno did more than give it, certainly. Juno kissed him right there and Peter felt all the tension leave his body as he leaned even closer to Juno. He still wasn’t entirely used to the feeling, the porcelain lips and the fiery intensity. And he wanted to cherish it as much as he could for as long as he could. Without thinking, he tried to use his other hand as well, but it came up blunt and awkward with the cast limiting his finger movement.

Juno laughed a little, leaning away.

“You have no idea how comforting it is to see you being clunky and awkward. I’m sure these casts will be a humbling experience for you.”

Peter scowled, lightly bumping Juno’s head with his cast.

“I’ll be suffering with this for months, I hope you know,” Peter said. “I’m planning on being an absolute nuisance to anyone willing to give me their ear.”

“Oh, I look forward to it,” Juno said. “My poor damsel in distress.”

“I will be incorrigible,” Peter promised. “In fact, I’m already in pain. If only there was a sweet detective nearby who could kiss me better.”

“Peter Nureyev, you absolute sap.” Juno laughed. But he kissed Peter again anyway. And for good measure, he lifted Peter’s cast up to his lips and kissed that, too, acting every inch the proper gentleman, even though he was still more suited to act the part of the lady.

“Juno Steel, you absolute goddess.” Peter kissed him once again for good measure. “I love you, too.”

Juno smiled, and it reached his eye. Finally, he leaned away to put the bandage back over his socket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally done it! I've finished the last chapter and so I'm uploading this one today and the last one tomorrow. This chapter has been written for MONTHS and I've just been editing it whenever I look over the fic from time to time. For a while, I debated going for the ending of Life and Death, making Peter a vampire as a result of all of this, but I think his narrative finishes off much nicer getting a chance to retry with the Khans.
> 
> So join me tomorrow when I upload the epilogue!


	22. Epilogue: An Occasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months later, Juno takes Peter out on a date. They are, perhaps, in love.

As it turned out, Peter really was incorrigible in the coming weeks. He didn’t know how much it would bother him to not be able to move around like he could before, but it very quickly grated on his nerves. With his dominant hand out of commission and an entire leg pretty much useless until the cast was off, he couldn’t move like he did before. He’d gotten hurt in the past, sure, but nothing like a broken bone, and it was awful trying to figure out how to change the way he walked. He was nowhere near as sneaky as he was before, which was getting old very fast.

Juno loved to tease him about it, but Peter also loved to make everything Juno’s problem. He would dramatically demand runs for food or water, sometimes he’d even ask to be carried. Being dramatic about it was a good way to hide how much it really bothered him. And kept him from thinking too much about his own fragility and how they wouldn’t be having any of these problems if he’d just been turned when they had the chance. Thought he could admit that he was grateful it wasn’t  _ Miasma _ that ended up turning him.

But when Peter wasn’t around Juno, when he was at home with the Khans...he  _ hated _ how his injuries made him feel like a nuisance. He disliked a lot of things about this entire situation with the Khans, mostly the regret he felt every time he looked at one of them. It was one thing to tell Khan back at the hospital that he wanted to stay in Forks, it was another entirely to face the family he threatened when he was sure he’d never see them again. Yes, it was a relief that he could see them again at all, but it didn’t make it any easier.

He still remembered the looks on the faces of the kids when he stepped back in. The braver ones faced him head on, sure, but a lot of them hid behind Noor and looked on with wide, terrified eyes. And he apologized, yes, and they said they accepted it, yes, but it wasn’t the same in the house. He insisted on helping around the house every chance he got because he despised the idea of abusing their hospitality again. But he was useless at a lot of things around the house, especially with the damn casts on, and Noor wound up fixing his mistakes, making even more work for her.

Not to mention, whenever he moved too fast, some of the kids would flinch and that certainly made Peter spiral into some depressive thoughts. Every bone in his body wanted him to keep his knives on him at all times, but it felt like betraying their trust if he had one on him around the kids, so he kept them all in his room, hiding them expertly from Khan. He knew Khan didn't want any weapons at all, but Peter didn't feel comfortable without them, not yet at least. Some of the kids, he got along with better again, especially after repeated apologies and attempts at explanations, which was nice, but that didn’t stop Peter from feeling guilty every time he looked at one of the Khans.

Mostly, he felt relieved. He’d never felt relieved before, coming back to a place he’d already lived in. First rule of thieving; never go to the same place twice unless you plan on getting caught. But he’d also never really wanted to stay somewhere before. With Mag, they had to move all the time to make sure they never got caught and also because neither of them liked the idea of sitting still for longer than a few months at a time.

But Peter could imagine himself staying here for a little while. The idea should make his skin crawl, but it didn’t. Maybe it was the people he’d gotten used to in Forks, or maybe it was having such a big distance from a past that Peter honestly didn’t want to think much about anymore. He finally felt like he could be someone other than Mag. He never thought he could be anyone other than just another Mag until he came here. Broken limbs and all, he didn’t regret coming up to Forks at all, though he certainly regretted some of the things he did here.

But he was doing his best to make up for it. Even now, while preparing for Juno to take him out on a “surprise evening”, he was doing his best on a makeup lesson that a few kids started asking for when he started doing his own makeup. And, really, it had all turned into a spa day in the bathroom, much to the chagrin of the uninvolved kids who wanted to use the bathroom. He even allowed one of them to paint his nails for him, and he was hoping he would have enough time before Juno showed up to duck into his room and fix them without the kids feeling bad about it. It wasn’t a  _ bad _ nail job, he just had a little higher standards than leaving paint on his skin around the nail.

He was actually in the middle of painting one of the boys’ nails, easily juggling a conversation with said boy about a girl he liked, teaching two girls off to the side how to avoid making the blush too red on their cheeks, and also a debate with another child about hot versus cold showers in relation to self care. At this point, Peter was happy enough of the kids still trusted him and wanted to be around him that he could do something like this, so he was more than happy to keep up. And, yes, he was more than aware of the children that were completely avoiding him still, and he hoped it was just a matter of time before he could help fix that mistake.

And then he heard the knock at the door and cursed under his breath when he checked the time. Juno was perfectly on time once again. Peter wasn’t even dressed yet.

“You can go ahead,” the boy whose nails he was working on said. “I can finish myself.”

“Nonsense,” Peter said, dipping the brush into the polish again. “It’s just two fingers. I’m sure your father is going to keep him busy for a few minutes anyway.”

He could already hear Khan’s voice, all the way downstairs. Something about a curfew, keeping an eye on funny business, the usual. Juno got the same talk every time Khan saw him. And it made sense. As far as Khan was concerned, Peter and Juno had a fight and then Peter ran away and got hurt. If the kids didn’t trust Peter, they certainly didn’t trust Juno at all. He got glares every now and then from them, too, and it was very entertaining to hear him complain about the opinion of a 6-year-old.

After putting the finishing touches on the nails, Peter left the bathroom, assuring the kids still inside that they could use his supplies however they wanted. If he needed to get more later, he didn’t mind. Maybe next time he went shopping for them, he could take the kids with him.

Peter hated how awkwardly he had to walk now, hobbling from room to room, sometimes with the aid of a crutch, but he was getting used to it. It did take frighteningly long to change, long enough that Peter decided he didn’t have the time to fix his nails. And long enough that as he descended the stairs, the conversation from before had lapsed into a tense, uncomfortable silence.

Peter all but stumbled off of the stairs when he caught sight of the vision Juno made in his dress. It was gold, glittering even in the bad lighting of the entryway, perfectly fitted to him at the top, and very, very large and poofy at the bottom. It was obviously something he wouldn’t have picked out on his own, which made Peter guess Rita had something to do with it. That and the flashy golden eyepatch he had on as well. He even had his hair freshly braided for the night. Peter honestly felt a little underdressed just looking at him.

Still, Juno’s surly look as he leaned against the front door immediately brightened at the sight of Peter hobbling down the stairs. Peter himself was dressed in a blue suit he’d found relatively recently on a shopping trip the Kanagawas invited him on to go shopping for Prom. Under normal circumstances, Peter would feel very confident in the outfit he chose, but his damn broken bones made everything difficult.

Juno took a small step forward, acting like he wanted to help, but seemed to remember the last conversation they’d had about Peter getting fed up with being helped without asking for it and stayed back.

“You, uh, you look good,” Juno said to fill the space as Peter wobbled down one stair at a time.

“You’re quite a vision yourself,” Peter said, sighing with relief once he’d made it down all of the stairs. Khan stood in the doorway to the kitchen, awkwardness plain on his face as he took the two of them in.

“I was just telling Steel here, curfew’s 11,” Khan said. “And you’ve got your phone, Pete, if anything fishy happens, you give me a call.”

“Of course,” Peter said. His entire body still tingled whenever he heard his real name. Everyone at the house called him that now. It was...nice to not have that hanging over his head anymore, but he still felt the panic when he heard his name. Especially when Khan called him Pete, almost exactly how Mag used to. 

He was still considering how to break the news to the school and his friends at the school. His friends would have a field day if they learned his real name and started doing their own research on him and dug up all of his past. He might just stay Rex Glass there just to maintain his privacy. He didn’t want more people knowing about his past.

“Are you going to tell me where you’re taking me now?” Peter asked as Juno offered his arm.

“Half the fun is not knowing,” Juno said, that lilt of a smile on his face. He nodded towards Khan one last time. “No funny business. Promise.”

Khan nodded, turning to go back into the kitchen and giving them both prime view of his gun, which he was cleaning on the kitchen table and had in pieces. Peter rolled his eyes, following after Juno outside and towards the Volvo.

“He hates me,” Juno said with a heavy sigh. 

“Hate is a strong word,” Peter said. “I think he’s just being protective. It’s completely unnecessary, of course.” Khan was all big talk, when really he just cared about Peter. He made big shows of force, but still trusted Juno enough to let Peter out with him. And Juno knew that. It didn't take a mind reader to know it, but Juno loved to be dramatic.

“He doesn’t get why you still trust me,” Juno said, leaving Peter at the passenger door before walking to the other side of the car. “You haven’t told him anything about what happened between us. Might help him.”

“And what do you suggest I tell him?” Peter asked as he climbed into the car. “That I had a pretend fight with my vampire boyfriend in order to avoid a different vampire that wanted to hunt me to turn me into a mindless slave? I think we’re better off leaving him confused.”

“Maybe.” Juno sped off, leaving the house behind. Peter couldn’t help but muse about where Juno could possibly be taking him, making them both dress up so nicely.

As it turned out, Peter didn’t have to wait long to find out. Juno was only driving for a few minutes before he turned off the highway, right to Forks High School, the parking lot packed full of students going to Prom.

“Juno, are you taking me to  _ Prom _ ?” Peter asked. He wasn’t necessarily mad at the idea, he was just confused. Neither he nor Juno had much interest in things like this. Though if Juno really was interested, Peter was more than happy to see this through for his sake.

“Rituals are important,” Juno said. “Even frivolous high school ones.”

“Oh, is this another lecture?” Peter asked, mostly playful to keep the mood light. And because he knew Juno was coming from a good place.

“I never went to Prom when I was alive,” Juno reminded.

“And how many times have you gone now that you’re undead?” Peter asked.

Juno thought for a moment. “Rita’s dragged me to a few. Maybe...ten? Never with a date, though.”

“Well, Juno, I’m honored,” Peter said. “But I have to admit to you, this isn’t my first Prom.”

“It’s not?”

“I had a mark when I was...fourteen?” Peter guessed. “I managed to convince them I was sixteen, they took me to their Prom, and they were the one dumb enough to come with actual diamond jewelry.”

“Is now a bad time to let you know that there’s real gemstones in my necklace?” Juno asked and Peter couldn’t help but laugh. “What? It was Buddy’s idea. She’s always one to show off the money she’s worked hard to earn, rather than just sit on it.”

“I couldn’t steal from a vampire if I tried, dear,” Peter assured. “Besides, I think it looks quite nice around your neck. If anything, I’d be stealing something to put on you, but if you ask nicely I might consider taking something else off.”

Juno made that adorable face again, where Peter could just imagine a blush on his cheeks, before saying, “Maybe later,” and ducking out of the car. Peter chuckled, following after him.

“You know you could have just asked me to Prom, Juno,” Peter said. “Why go to all the effort to keep it a secret?”

“You were so against the winter dance,” Juno offered. “I wasn’t sure if you’d just turn me down outright.”

“Well, maybe the right person didn’t get around to asking me to the winter dance,” Peter said. “I haven’t even paid attention to what the theme is. Am I properly dressed for the occasion?”

“Under the sea,” Juno said, gesturing to the vaguely put together and vaguely nautical themed decorations at the entrance to the high school. “Think you fit more than I do.”

Peter took a cursory glance through the other teens making their way towards the school as well, and none of them seemed to have paid much mind to the theme.

“I don’t think it matters much at all,” Peter said. When he went to someone else’s Prom, he thought it only proper to stick to the theme. It was Casino Royale, he recalled, which was oddly fitting. But apparently most people didn’t seem to care about the theme at all.

“Well, you ready?” Juno asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Peter mused, readying himself mentally to face his friends, who he had assured repeatedly that he was not going to Prom over the last few weeks.

Going to the front, it turned out Juno had already bought the tickets without letting Peter know, and they were let into the gym, which was already enveloped in overplayed pop songs with too much bass and the best light show a high school dance budget cold buy. It was well after the time the dance was scheduled to start, so the gym was filled with people. Peter saw Julian and his new boyfriend in the middle of it all, having the time of their lives.

While Peter could certainly warm up to the idea of having fun in this kind of situation, one look at Juno told Peter that he wasn’t all that interested in it. There was a door on the other end, where Peter assumed they could go outside for some air, and happily told hold of Juno’s hand to lead him in that direction. Juno didn’t protest as they walked, and they passed by Cecil and Cass on their way out. Peter offered a wave at them and they waved back. Looked like they were having fun at least, and were more than happy to see Peter with Juno.

It was much nicer outside. Peter had stopped noticing the climate as much after spending so much time in Forks, but even being in that crowded gym full of dancing people for several minutes really made the peacefulness and the coolness sink in. It was getting towards the warmer months, more sun would be out as the days got longer, and Peter was looking forward to spending that time with Juno and staring in fascination at his skin in the sunlight.

Just outside, Nova was busying herself with a guy Peter only vaguely knew on a bench off to the side, and he was grateful for the break from her. She’d finally gotten bored of him about a week ago, turning her attention to someone who was more willing to give her the devotion she wanted.

Peter could still faintly hear the music from inside the gym, and as he led Juno to a section alone outside, the song shifted to a slow one, the DJ telling everyone to “pull your lover close.” Peter nearly snorted at that, but offered his hand to Juno with a smirk.

“Sure you can dance with only one leg?” Juno asked teasingly.

“I’m sure I have twice the grace you do,” Peter said confidently. “And if we aren’t here to dance, then what are we here to do?”

Juno took his hand. “I dunno, Rita and I normally stick by the snack table and make up conversations for people across the room.”

“Well, we can do plenty of that after, I assure you,” Peter said, pulling Juno close.

Peter wasn’t about to admit it out loud, but his leg was starting to hurt from standing and walking on it so much. He wasn’t about to let that stop him from having a nice dance with Juno, though. It might stop him from taking the lead, but again, he would never admit that out loud.

Juno seemed to catch on easily enough that Peter wanted him to lead and it seemed his brother had worn off on him, since he stepped into the role with practiced ease. They danced like that for a little while, just looking at each other in silence. Peter allowed himself to get distracted by Juno’s eye patch, and what he hid underneath. Somehow, he’d filed down all the jagged edges, leaving behind a smooth, round pocket around where his eye should have been. He said it didn’t bother him, but Peter couldn’t be all that sure if it did or not. If Peter looked carefully, he could also see lines of scars coming out of his eye, heaver than most of his scars, but lighter than the one on his nose. Still, nearly impossible to see even in the best lighting, and only because he knew where to look and how close to look.

“So, have you changed your mind yet?” Juno asked, and Peter sighed. He was waiting for this. It was a very frequent question, after all.

“When will you stop asking that?” Peter asked.

“Until the day it actually happens,” Juno said. “I want to give you a way out just in case you come to your senses.”

“You talk about becoming a vampire like it’s a death sentence,” Peter said.

“I mean, you literally die,” Juno offered.

“But I can still exist in this world,” Peter said. “You act like I’ll never get a Prom again, like this isn’t your eleventh Prom. Like I won’t come back as the same person, just a bit sturdier.”

“It’s different in a way you can’t expect,” Juno said. “And I just...You deserve a choice.”

“And I appreciate you giving it to me,” Peter said, pressing his forehead down to touch Juno’s cold, hard forehead. “I know how hard this is for you, but this is my choice and my mortality. I’ll do with it what I want.”

“I know,” Juno said. “You’ve accepted all my terms so far, it’s only fair I don’t keep adding more.”

“It’ll already be so painful waiting until I’ve graduated,” Peter sighed dramatically. The music changed back to another upbeat song, but Peter didn’t make a move to separate from Juno. Still, Peter was happy he was going to wait to turn until after he graduated. Going away to college gave him an excuse to vanish for a few months away from the Khans without hurting them again. From what Juno explained, Peter couldn’t risk being anywhere near them as a newborn, but he still wanted to be around them. He could get control, just like the rest of the Aurinkos, and return to this life he’d decided he wanted so badly.

And the other condition, kind of decided mutually between them, was that Juno would turn him. Of course, Peter wouldn’t really mind most of the Aurinkos or their venom in him, but something just felt  _ right _ about it being Juno. The way Miasma’s venom burned through his blood and his memory made him sure of that. Peter knew it would still hurt, be far more painful that the little blip he got in Phoenix, but something about it being Juno’s venom made it seem more bearable.

They still hadn’t gone to Juno’s family about this plan they’d cooked up, but Peter had a feeling Sasha already knew. They were planning on it soon, and Peter was grateful they still had a fair bit of time to get them used to the idea. He wasn’t about to invite himself into the Aurinko family like that, he couldn’t bear the thought of going into another family uninvited, but he was hoping...it might all turn out alright in the end. He didn’t want to tear Juno away from his family just for a stupid decision Peter made about immortality.

“Just promise me one thing,” Juno said and Peter hummed. “Try not to be insufferable about how amazing you’re going to look when you turn, okay?”

Peter smiled. “How could I possibly hold a candle to you, love?”

“Yeah, yeah, go be sappy somewhere else. All I’m saying is, you already look the part of vampire enough without actually being one. And if you start being dramatic and even more...you...I’m breaking up with you. Especially if you abuse the teeth thing.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Peter said, pulling Juno closer to him. “I think I could be persuaded to keep my insufferableness to a...sufferable level.”

“All I ask,” Juno said with a smirk.

“Any other requests?” Peter asked, leaning closer to Juno.

“I can think of a few,” Juno said. “I would love to be able to hear your thoughts for once.”

“Now that is a tough ask,” Peter said. “I don’t know if I want that. I love having something to lord over you. What else can I offer you?”

Juno hummed. “I can only think of one other thing, if that one’s off the table.”

He leaned forward to close the space between them, lips pressed against Peter’s, and Peter was more than happy to reciprocate. Juno didn’t often initiate kisses, and so Peter liked to reward it by kissing back with everything he had. Something about feeling Juno’s lips, and teeth, so close to him made that fading scar on his neck ache, but he didn’t mind so much. He often teased Juno about it, calling it a love bite, but it was one scar on his body from that whole ordeal he didn’t mind having. It was a reminder.

A reminder not only to stop running off on his own and getting himself stuck in stupid situations when he could just ask for help, but also a reminder that Juno was there for him, and will continue to be there for him. If he was lucky, and all went well, that would last for an eternity. But for right now, he would take that moment outside of the school gym.  It was small scale, especially considering the grand heists he planned with Mag, and much bigger scale than what he was anticipating in his short time in police custody. A happy medium.

Peter Nureyev had never put much thought into how he would die until he arrived in Forks, Washington. He had always been moving too fast for that kind of thought to catch up to him. Now it was something he was in the middle of negotiating, and he had every confidence that as long as he was with Juno Steel, everything would turn out okay.

Certainly, the rest of his life and everything that would come after it wouldn’t be boring, and that’s all he could ever ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super proud of myself for finishing this. I haven't finished a fanwork in quite some time, so it's refreshing to finally get it done! Even if it is a Twilight AU! I've taken this whole thing far more seriously than I should have, but I had a lot of fun and that's all that really matters.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who's been following and reviewing, it's meant so much to me! Let me know what you thought


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